Menkemaborg

The Menkemaborg (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmɛŋkəmaːˌbɔr(ə)x]; Menkema Borough) is a borg (castle) in the village of Uithuizen in Groningen in the Netherlands.

The Alberda family, the 18th-century occupants, commissioned artists to decorate the interior with impressive chimney-pieces carved with baroque ornaments, and paintings of mythological scenes.

A particularly pretty part is the walled pleasure garden in front of the pavilion, with its trellised arches and arbours.

To the east of the mansion is the utility area with a kitchen garden where vegetables and potherbs are grown and an orchard with ancient strains of apple trees and a pear-tree pergola.

The complex of the mansion and gardens, surrounded by their tree-shaded moat, offers a vivid impression of how the Groningen aristocracy lived in the 17th and 18th centuries.