The best running trails in Jongenbos

Wintershoven was first mentioned in writing in 976, as Villa Wintreshovo. The suffix -hoven indicates a Frankish origin. Wintres would refer to a proper name: the farm of Winidahari. The Roman presence is evident from the fact that the main road from Tongeren crossed the territory of the later Wintershoven in a northerly direction. Partly due to the activities in the seventh century of evangelists such as Bavo of Ghent, Amandus, and their followers, Wintershoven became an important ecclesiastical center in the early Middle Ages. Many of them were canonized (the Saints of Wintershoven) and have been venerated since then. Administratively, Wintershoven was an allodium, which, however, was part of the County of Loon. The patronage right of the parish, which traditionally belonged to the St. Bavo's Abbey in Ghent, passed to the Counts of Loon at the beginning of the 13th century, who ceded it to the Lords of Kortessem. In 1225, the patronage right passed to the then-established chapter of Kortessem. Part of the tithe right passed to the Abbey of Herkenrode in 1232. Wintershoven, located at a crossroads, originally developed as a linear village. In 1904, the Kortessem-Tongeren tram line was built, with a tram station near Kasteel Dessener. The tram line has disappeared, but the name Stationsstraat remained. Ribbon development occurred along this street.

The water castle of Schoonbeek is a Renaissance castle built in a U-shape with a large garden. Next to the castle is a pond that flows into a moat, over which a drawbridge leads to the entrance gate. The oldest core of the castle dates back to the Middle Ages: in 1333 the castle belonged to the County of Loon. Herman Typots, bailiff of the Land of Grevenbroek and castellan of the Prinsenhof in Kuringen, married Margriet van Chiney, daughter of Dirk van Chiney, lord of Schoonbeek and Anna Vandenbosch of Gors-op-Leeuw. In 1573 their grandson Hendrik Typots was still lord of the castle of Schoonbeek. The Preston family from Ireland bought it in 1780. The next owner was the de Renesse family. Count Theodore de Renesse was mayor of Beverst and governor of the province of Limburg. Another descendant, Frédéric Alexandre Jean Marie Ghislain, Count de Renesse, born in Brussels on January 3, 1904, died unmarried in the castle on November 18, 1990. In 1991 the castle became the property of Count Thierry de Hemricourt de Grunne.

The water castle of Schoonbeek is a U-shaped Renaissance castle with a large garden. Next to the castle is a pond that flows into a moat, over which a drawbridge leads to the entrance gate. The oldest part of the castle dates back to the Middle Ages: in 1333, the castle belonged to the county of Loon. Herman Typots, drossard of the Land of Grevenbroek and castellan of the Prinsenhof in Kuringen, married Margriet van Chiney, daughter of Dirk van Chiney, lord of Schoonbeek and Anna Vandenbosch of Gors-op-Leeuw. In 1573, their grandson Hendrik Typots was still lord of the castle of Schoonbeek. The Preston family from Ireland bought it in 1780. The next owner was the de Renesse family. Count Theodore de Renesse was mayor of Beverst and governor of the province of Limburg. Another descendant, Frédéric Alexandre Jean Marie Ghislain, count de Renesse, born in Brussels on January 3, 1904, died unmarried in the castle on November 18, 1990. In 1991, the castle became the property of count Thierry de Hemricourt de Grunne.

At the junction with the Kleineweg stands this charming chapel, in a place where a house of prayer has belonged for centuries. An earlier chapel was lost during the French period, but the tradition lived on. In 1818, Jan Coenen, farmer of the nearby Mersenhovenhoeve, had a new chapel built here, dedicated to Our Lady. It is striking that he used the same bricks for it as for the farmhouse, which creates a beautiful and recognizable whole. A small place with a great story, where past and devotion come together.

Het Jongenbos is an estate complex that originally belonged to the Jongenbos Castle in Vliermaalroot. It currently consists of 20 ha of castle park, 100 ha of forest and 180 ha of arable land and pasture. From 1995 onwards, 73 ha of the forest has been designated as a forest reserve. The area is protected by Europe as part of the Natura 2000 area 'Forests and calcareous grasslands of Haspengouw' (BE2200038). @https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jongenbos

This is not the Donnea castle, the Donnea castle is located on the Tongersesteenweg in Guigoven: https://www.komoot.com/nl-nl/plan/@50.8369945,5.4012574,18.095z?sport=hike&constitution=2&waypoint=poi:6YOUd

This castle, also known as 't Rood Kasteel (Red Castle), was the former residence of the Lords of Guigoven and is one of the few buildings built on the marshy soil of the Mombeek alluvial plain. Early sources mention it as early as the 13th century. The oldest parts of the complex (the house to the left of the gatehouse: 1619) date from the first half of the 17th century and were built in the Maasland Renaissance style. The 18th- and 19th-century renovations were generally carried out in the Classical and Neoclassical styles. Originally, it was a moated castle with a drawbridge as the only access. The current pond is a remnant of the former moat.

The Jongenbos forest lies northeast of the center of Vliermaalroot, in the northern part of Humid Haspengouw. The terrain is almost flat. This historically stable forest served as a park and hunting preserve for the eponymous Loon fiefdom. The builder of the current castle is said to have planted seventy thousand trees to compensate for the felling of the deciduous forest, which was necessary for the castle's construction (including for firewood in the brickworks' kilns). The pond behind the castle is the result of clay extraction for bricks. The landscape around the forest has an agricultural character.