Brussels-Upper Town
Mont des Arts
Artists' Hill is located in the upper part of Brussels. To get here you have to overcome several hills. It is a historic district with the Royal Palace and several great museums. Mont des Arts provides one of the most beautiful views in Brussels. From the viewpoint on the hill we can admire the famous tower of the town hall on the Grand Place in Brussels. On clear days you can see from here Koekelberg Basilica and even Atomium. Nearby Mont des Arts there are the main tourist attractions: Museum of Musical Instruments, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Royal Palace and Cathedral of Saints Michael and Gudula.
The area where it is located Mont des Arts, was once densely populated. In the 19th century, King Leopold II bought the entire area and transformed it into Mont des Arts. Many old buildings were demolished. However, due to financial reasons, it was abandoned. construction of Artists' Hill. To make the area look beautiful, during the 1910 World Exhibition in Brussels, the king ordered the design of a temporary garden on the hill, with a park and a monumental staircase. However, in 1930, plans to create Mont des Arts were revisited and the park had to be demolished to make way for a new square. In 1956 and 1958, new heavy geometric structures were built around the park, such as the Royal Library Belgium and the Palace of Congress. The new garden on the square is the work of landscape architect René Péchère.
Attractions of Mont des Arts
- Jacques Brela Foundation is located at the foot of the Upper Town, at place de la Vieille Halle aux Blés 11. At its headquarters there is a small museum dedicated to this famous Belgian singer. Since its establishment in 1981, the Foundation has organized exhibitions, published works, and digitized a large number of archives related to the artist's work and life. Thanks to the development of new technologies, the Foundation offers the public access to part of its archives. The exhibition is divided into three sections: Brel the singer, Brel the author, Brel the actor. Visitors will learn the artist's secrets and hear how important Belgium was to him, even though he sometimes depicted it with humor or even irony. Fans of the artist who created such hits as Port Amsterdam and Ne me quitte pas can purchase Jacques Brel's records at the museum.
- Église Notre-Dame de la Chapelle this the oldest church in Brussels. In 1134, Duke Godfrey I of Brabant built a chapel here. In the following century, a church was built in its place. Work on its construction lasted from 1210 to 1300. In 1574 the church was plundered by Calvinists, and in 1695 it suffered during the bombardment of Brussels by French troops. Inside the church, the Gothic organ and the massive pulpit with the figure of St. Elijah. To the left of the entrance, in the second chapel of the side nave, stands a statue of Our Lady Protector of the Lonely. The painter Peter Bruegel the Elder was buried in the church along with his wife. In the fourth chapel of the nave On the side there is a commemorative plaque dedicated to the artist who probably lived and died just around the corner, in home at rue Haute 132. The church is the parish of the Polish Catholic community in Brussels. In the side chapel, the icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa is venerated.
- Musee des Instruments de Musique is located in a beautiful glass building designed in 1899 by Paul Saintenoy . In the past, the Old England department store was located here. An impressive building made of glass and iron is covered with fancy domes. On 3,000 meters of exhibition space The Museum of Musical Instruments presents collection about 1,200 exhibits. The beginnings of the museum collection date back to the 19th century, when the state purchased 80 antique and exotic instruments. In 1876, this number doubled when King Leopold II donated to the museum 97 Indian instruments that he had received from the maharaja. Among the museum's greatest attractions are the prototypes of instruments by Adolphe Sax, the Belgian inventor of the saxophone from Dinant.
- Mousse è e Royaux des Beaux Arts consists of a group of six museums: Musee Oldmasters (Museum of Old Masters), Musee d'Art Moderne (Museum of Modern Art), Musee Magritte, Musee Fin-de-Siecle, Musee Wiertz and Musee Meunier. The whole creates the most magnificent collection of Belgian art, which consists of about 20,000 works of art - paintings, sculptures, drawings - from 15th to 21st century. Here you can admire the works of such masters as: Pieter Bruegel, Peter Paul Rubens, Jacques Jordaens, Jacques Louis David, Auguste Rodin, James Ensor, Paul Gauguin, Ferdinand Khnopff, Henry Moore, Paul Delvaux, René Magritte, Marcel Broodthaers, Jan Fabre and many others. Museum of Old Masters is located in a classicist building, designed between 1874 and 1900 by Alphonse Balat.
- Palais Royal de Brussels is the official residence of the Belgian monarch. The construction of the palace began in the 1820s. Concept prepared by the architect T. Suysa was supposed to draw attention to Throne Room (original royal hall with huge pillars, 11 large chandeliers and 28 wall lamps), Little White Room (golden hall with 18th-century Rococo furniture and royal portraits, lit by candle chandeliers), Field Marshal's Hall (the central place is occupied by a portrait Leopold I, copy of the painting Winterhalter from 1843) and Hall of Mirrors (room used for official presentations of the royal couple's guests). The palace also houses the royal chancellery. A flag hoisted on a pole means that the ruler is in office in the palace. The changing of the guard takes place every day at 2 p.m.
At the southern edge of the Haute-Town begins the Sablon district, one of the more elite areas in Brussels. Here you can admire magnificent sculptures, luxurious restaurants and galleries, a beautiful 15th-century temple, the historic Hallepoort city gate, and the magnificent Palace of Justice, called the largest monument in 19th-century Europe.
- Place du Grand Sablon considered one of the most beautiful city squares in Brussels. It is home to antique shops and atmospheric restaurants, housed in houses dating from the 16th to the 19th centuries. It's the perfect place to relax while exploring the upper part of Brussels. Every weekend, an antiques market takes place in the square next to the church, attracting crowds of tourists. In the center of the square there is the Minerva fountain built in 1751, as a symbol of the Earl of Aylesbury's gratitude for the hospitality he received while in Brussels.
- Église Notre Dame du Sablon It is one of the most beautiful churches in Belgium. Its official name is Église Notre Dame des Victories (Our Lady of Victories). The church stands on the Grand Sablon square and is a magnificent example of Brabant Gothic in Belgium. The temple was built on a Latin cross plan. It measures 65 meters in length, 37 meters in width in the transept, in the main nave 26 meters high. Construction of the temple began around 1400 and lasted over a hundred years. Each of the church's five naves has its own altar and was built in honour of the five military guilds of Brussels.
The temple is known for its quadruple gallery of windows containing bright, colorful stained glass (15 meters high), contrasting with the gray-white walls and arches. Inside the church there are two Baroque chapels, decorated with funeral symbols made of white marble. One of these chapels, built of black marble, was built between 1651 and 1676 and is dedicated to the family VonThurn und Tassis, founders of the European postal movement.
It is worth paying attention to the statue of St. Hubert, beautiful organs and a magnificent wooden pulpit, created by Marc Devos (1697). Above the entrance from the inside there is an interesting sculpture depicting a figure in a boat; this is Beatrice Sodkens, the inspiration behind bringing the miraculous sculpture of Mary to Brussels. In memory of the statue of Mary (chopped up in 1565 by Protestants), which was believed to have healing powers, the Ommegang festival is celebrated every year on the first Tuesday and Thursday of July. It begins with a traditional procession and ends with dancing in the nearby Grand Place.
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Address:
Rue des Sablons,
1000 Bruxelles |
Opening hours:
Monday-Friday: 10:00-18:00
Saturday-Sunday: 9:00-18:00 |
Fare:
Free admission
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On the eastern side of the temple is the Place du Petit Sablon, a charming little park established in 1890. It was enclosed by a high, elaborately decorated wrought iron fence. This fence contains 48 figures representing representatives of all the Brussels guilds. Statuettes by Art Nouveau artist Paul Hankar. In the middle of the park there is a cascading fountain, on top of which stand the figures of Count Egmont and Admiral Hoorn, members of the opposition movement, who were publicly beheaded on the Grand Place in 1568 on the orders of the Duke of Alba. On both sides of the fountain stand 12 figures of Renaissance intellectuals and artists, including Bernard van Orley (author of the stained glass windows in Brussels Cathedral), Gerhard Mercator (Flemish geographer and cartographer whose 16th-century vision of the world became the basis for many later maps), and William I of Orange (the first ruler of the Netherlands).
- The Palais de Justice This is the most impressive of all the ambitious projects of Leopold II. To implement it, several thousand inhabitants were evicted from Mont des Pendus (Hanged Men's Hill). The author of the project was the architect Joseph Poelaert, whose statue was placed in front of the underground corridor at the entrance to the stairs. The construction of this monumental building took 17 years (1866-1883). Its creators were inspired by ancient temples. The palace covers an area of 26,000 m² and has 27 rooms. audience rooms and 245 courtrooms. To this day, it is used for its intended purpose, i.e. as a municipal court.
- Porte de Hal It stands on the northwestern edge of the working-class district of Marolles, on the border of the Petit Ring, on the Boulevard du Midi. This is the only preserved fragment of the second defensive wall of Brussels. The building, which was built in 1381, served successively as a grain warehouse, a Lutheran church, and a prison. Architect Henri Beyaert redesigned part of the gate. Raw the medieval tower was rebuilt in neo-Gothic style. In front of the inner gate he added a round tower topped with a conical roof and a monumental spiral staircase. Originally, the structure had grates and a drawbridge over the moat. Currently renovated in the neo-Gothic style, it belongs to the Royal Museum. From the top of the tower there is a beautiful view of the capital's panorama.
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Address:
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Opening hours:
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Fare:
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Boulevard du Midi 150,
1000 Brussels |
Monday-Thursday: 9.30-17.00
Saturday, Sunday: 10:00-18:00 |
7 euros
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