City of Brussels

Central District

It is in the heart of the Saint-Géry Island, formed by the Senne and on which a first dungeon was built around 979, that the origin of the city is located. Today, the neighbourhood around the Halles Saint-Géry, a former covered market, is one of the trendy districts of the capital. In the centre of the city, there are some vestiges of the 13th century first walls of Brussels, which surrounded the first port on the Senne, the Romanesque church, later replaced by the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula, and the ducal castle of Coudenberg (Royal Quarter). In the centre of this triangle are the Grand Place, the Îlot Sacré district (which takes its name from its resistance to demolition projects), itself crossed by the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, the Saint-Jacques district which welcomed the pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela, and the Brussels Stock Exchange, built on the site of a former convent, whose remains have been uncovered.

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  Manneken Pis
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  Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula
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  Brussels Stock Exchange
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  Le Cracheur fountain
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  Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert

Royal District

Thus named because it houses, on the one hand, the Royal Square, built under Charles-Alexander of Lorraine on the Coudenberg hill, on the site of the former Palace of the Dukes of Brabant, of which certain levels of foundation still exist, and on the other hand, the Royal Palace of Brussels, which faces the Brussels Park, on the other side of which is the Belgian Parliament. Below is the Central Station and the Mont des Arts/Kunstberg where are located the Royal Library of Belgium, the Royal Belgian Film Archive (Cinematek), the Brussels Centre for Fine Arts, the Museum of Cinema, the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM), the BELvue Museum, and the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium.

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  Museum Square
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  Brussels Park
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  Royal Palace
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  Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium
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  Academy Palace

Sablon/Zavel District

From the Royal Square, rue de la Régence/Regentschapsstraat crosses the neighbourhoods of the Small and Large Sablon/Zavel, a swanky district where the Church of Our Blessed Lady of the Sablon is located and where an antiques market is held, in which antique dealers, art dealers and other luxury shops have businesses. Not far from there was the Maison du Peuple by Victor Horta, in Art Nouveau style. There is also the Egmont Palace and the Royal Conservatory of Brussels.

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  Royal Conservatory
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  Fountain of Minerva
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  Egmont Palace
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  Church of Our Blessed Lady of the Sablon
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  Fountain of the counts of Egmont and Horn

Marolles/Marollen District

In the shadow of the gigantic Palace of Justice lies the old Marolles/Marollen district (not to be confused with the "Marolle" that purists delimit to only 7 streets). From Place de la Chapelle/Kapellemarkt to Place du Jeu de Balle/Vossenplein, where a daily flea market has been held since 1873, along rue Haute/Hogestraat and rue Blaesstraat, second-hand and popular shops have for some years given way to antique shops, marking a profound change in the neighbourhood. The Hellemans City, a remarkable example of collective housing complexes of the early 20th century, was built on the site of the many squalid cul-de-sacs in the neighbourhood. Rue Haute/Hogestraat, one of the longest and oldest streets in the city, follows the course of an old Gallo-Roman road, and runs along the Saint Pierre University Hospital, built in 1935 on the site of a leper hospital, to end at the Halle Gate, the only survivor of the series of gates which allowed passage inside the second walls of Brussels.

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  Place du Jeu de Balle, end of a market
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  Hellemans City, rue Blaes
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  Brigittines Chapel
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  Palace of Justice
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  Halle Gate

Midi-Lemonnier District

It is in the heart of this district, where Rouppe Square is today, that the first Brussels South Station was located in 1839, the terminus of the South Line, called the Bogards Station, in memory of the convent of the same name on the site of which it was built, and to which rue des Bogards/Bogaardenstraat is nowadays the only reference. The presence of a station at this location explains the unusual width of the current Avenue of Stalingrad, which goes from the square to the small ring road, cleared of its railways since the inauguration of the Brussels South Station, built outside the Pentagon in 1869. At the same time, following the covering of the Senne, the neighbourhood saw the construction, in the haussmannien style, of grand central boulevards, including Maurice Lemonnier Boulevard, bordered by Fontainas and Anneessens squares (location of the former Old Market), and by the Midi Palace.

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  Rouppe Square and Avenue of Stalingrad
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  Anneessens Square and Lucien Cooremans Institute
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  Lemonnier Boulevard and Midi Palace

Senne/Zenne District

The damp and swampy grounds around the present-day rue de la Senne/Zennestraat and rue des Fabriques/Fabriekstraat were occupied by craftsmen since the Middle Ages. An arm of the river crossed the defences of the second walls at the level of the Ninove Gate, by the small lock (Petite Écluse), which served as a port. An end of the lock remained there until the 1960s. Later, small industries and many artisan breweries, now disappeared, established themselves there, which is still evident by the names of rue du Houblon/Hopstraat ('Hops Street') and rue du Vieux Marché aux Grains/Oude Graanmarktstraat ('Old Grain Market Street'). The Tour à Plomb ('Shot Tower'), which was used for the manufacture of lead shot for hunting, and rue de la Poudrière/Kruitmolenstraat ('Gunpowder Street'), also testify to the former activities of the neighbourhood. Long neglected as a result of the relocation of businesses outside the centre, the area has for a few years been the object of a new interest and is undergoing gentrification, due to the many disused industrial premises being converted into lofts. The area around rue Antoine Dansaertstraat has become a trendy district and is attracting a younger, more well-off and mostly Dutch-speaking population. This new situation, which has the consequence of rising rents, is not without problems for the less fortunate inhabitants of the neighbourhood.

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  Rue Antoine Dansaert
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  Flower Garden Square
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  Industrial building transformed into housing (loft)
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  Tour à Plomb

Quays District or Maritime District

This district is that of the old port of Brussels, which played for a long time the role of belly of the city. The boats coming from the Scheldt penetrated through the Rivage Gate, at the site of the present Yser Square, to join one of the canals, of which each dock was reserved for one type of goods. Filled in the 19th century, at the opening of the new port of Brussels, the canals were replaced by wide boulevards, the two sides of which retain in their names the memory of their former function: quai aux Briques/Baksteenkaai ('Brick Wharf'), quai au Bois à Brûler/Brandhoutkaai ('Firewood Wharf'), quai aux Pierres de Taille/Arduinkaai ('Quarry Stone Wharf'), quai au Foin/Hooikaai ('Hay Wharf'), etc. or references to the neighbourhood's commercial activities: rue du Magasin/Pakhuisstraat ('Shop Street'), rue des Commerçants/Koopliedenstraat ('Traders Street'), rue du Marché aux Porcs/Varkensmarktstraat ('Pig Market Street') and quai du Commerce/Handelskaai ('Trade Wharf'). Along the quaysides, numerous bourgeois houses, once belonging to wealthy merchants, have preserved the entrances to the warehouses. On Ypres Boulevard, one can still cross food wholesalers, supplied nowadays by trucks, which have replaced the boats. The neighbourhood also includes the Béguinage of Brussels, with the church of Saint John the Baptist and the remarkable Grand Hospice Pachéco.

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  Saint John the Baptist at the Béguinage
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  Anspach fountain
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  Royal Flemish Theatre of Brussels
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  On the quays, Potale Saint Roch, invoked against the plague
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  La Bellone

Marais-Jacqmain District

Few are the buildings in the former Marais district which have escaped 20th century demolition, from Pachéco Boulevard to rue Neuve/Nieuwstraat. They have been replaced by the State Administrative City, press printers, banking facilities and commercial galleries. The current trend is to restore the neighbourhood's social mix by redeveloping housing in former office buildings. Despite the longtime grim aspect of the district, the Meyboom tradition has been maintained for centuries, and the former Art Nouveau Waucquez stores by Victor Horta have been preserved and house, since 1993, the Belgian Comic Strip Center. Another preserved islet is the 18th century Martyrs' Square, in the neo-classical style, which has gradually been renovated. The victims of the Belgian Revolution of 1830 are buried in an open crypt with a memorial. Nearby is rue Neuve/Nieuwstraat, one of the main commercial streets in Belgium, with on its two sides more than one kilometer long entirely occupied by shops; Adolphe Max Boulevard, a traditional artery with 19th century facades; and Émile Jacqmain Boulevard (where was installed in 2004, in a new building, the National Theatre of Belgium) close to De Brouckère Square. The latter, a very busy central point of the city centre, is dominated at its southern end by two block-style building towers, but for the rest, it has totally (Hotel Metropole and its neighbour the Hotel Atlanta) or partially (UGC cinema) preserved its old facades.

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  De Brouckère Square
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  La Monnaie theatre
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  Martyrs' Square
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  Church of Our Lady of Finistère

Libertés/Vrijheden District

The Libertés/Vrijheden district is situated between the Belgian Parliament and rue Royale/Koningsstraat, not far from the crossroads with the small ring road, and has as its focal point the Congress Column, built in memory of the National Congress of 1830–1831, the founder of democratic liberties in Belgium, and under which also lies the tomb of the Unknown Soldier with the Sacred Flame. Not far from here is the Hotel Astoria, a 1911 palace, which is currently being renovated and enlarged, and will be reopened in the coming years. In the 19th century, the district was known as Notre-Dame-aux-Neiges and was inhabited in majority by working-class people. The authorities' desire to clean up the squalid parts of the city led to the expulsion of the population and the complete destruction of the neighbourhood. A new bourgeois district was completely redeveloped during the last quarter of the century. The choice was made to commemorate the memory of the Belgian Independence: Liberty Square, Barricades' Square, Revolution Street, Congress Street, etc. The four streets overlooking Liberty Square bear the names of the four constitutional freedoms, symbolised by the four female figures surrounding the Congress Column: Freedom of the Press, Religion, Association and Education. This eclectic urban complex is today one of the best preserved of the Pentagon.

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  The Congress Column (Leopold I)
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  Liberty Square (Charles Rogier)
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  Surlet de Chokier Square (The Brabançonne)
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  Barricades' Square (Andreas Vesalius)

European Quarter or Leopold Quarter

The European Quarter is located to the east of the Pentagon, around Place du Luxembourg and the Schuman roundabout, and includes the smaller Leopold Quarter. The European Parliament was built near Place du Luxembourg, on the site of the former Quartier Leopold station (of which remains only the central building overlooking the square), having been replaced by the underground Brussels-Luxembourg railway station. The European Commission, housed in the Berlaymont building, is located on the Schuman roundabout, not far from the Cinquantenaire Park. Across the street stands the Justus Lipsius building and the Europa building (part of the Residence Palace), which is the seat of the European Council and the Council of the EU.

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  Place du Luxembourg
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  Berlaymont building
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  Cinquantenaire

Laeken

Laeken is a former municipality in the north of the Brussels-Capital Region, annexed by the City of Brussels in 1921. Laeken is home to, among others, the Royal Domain of Laeken, the Castle of Laeken, the Royal Greenhouses of Laeken (1873), the Church of Our Lady of Laeken (whose crypt contains the tombs of the Belgian Royal Family) and the Laeken Cemetery, known for its wealth of monuments and sculptures. On the territory of Laeken, there is also the Heysel/Heizel Plateau, where were held the World's Fairs of 1935 and 1958 and which includes the King Baudouin Stadium, Bruparck (with the Atomium, Mini-Europe miniature park, Kinepolis cinema and Océade water park), the Brussels Exhibition Centre and the Port of Brussels, next to which was built the Monument to Work by Constantin Meunier.

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  Map of Laeken
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  Castle of Laeken
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  Church of Our Lady of Laeken
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  Atomium

Mutsaard

Sometimes also known as the Pagoda district, the Japanese tower district or De Wand district, Mutsaard (also spelled Mutsaert), is an old hamlet and a historic district located between Laeken and Neder-over-Heembeek and centered around Mutsaard Square. The district was part of the former municipality of Laeken (postcode: 1020) but also a piece of Neder-over-Heembeek, annexed by Laeken in 1897. It is separated from the rest of Laeken by the Royal Domain and is the site of the Museums of the Far East. The district also extends a little on the neighbouring Flemish municipalities of Vilvoorde and Grimbergen.

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  Map of Mutsaard
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  Japanese tower
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  Chinese pavilion

Neder-Over-Heembeek

Neder-Over-Heembeek is a former municipality incorporated in the city of Brussels in 1921, at the same time as Laeken and Haren. It has the distinction of having the oldest place name in the Brussels-Capital Region, as it was mentioned in an ordinance as early as the 7th century. This is where the Queen Astrid Military Hospital is located, which is the National Burns and Poisons centre, as well as recruitment services of the Belgian Armed Forces.

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  Map of Neder-Over-Hembeek
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  Old Romanesque tower in Lower Heembeek
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  Church of St Nicholas in Upper Heembeek

Haren

Like Laeken and Neder-Over-Heembeek, the former municipality of Haren was annexed by the municipality (City) of Brussels in 1921, which allowed the extension of the Schaerbeek railway station north of its territory. But it is the presence, southwest of the town, of an airfield, created by the Germans during the First World War, where was born the Belgian national airline Sabena, which precipitated the annexation of Haren. For almost fifty years, Haren has been home to the NATO headquarters. It is also the location of many other administrations and companies, such as the headquarters of Eurocontrol.