Brussels is truly a historical place, and it history is closely linked to that of Western Europe. This video goes on a tour of the royal courters in the City Center of Brussels.
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Brussels Park (Center of City)
The Parc de Bruxelles or Brussels Park is the largest urban public park in the center of Brussels. Since the 19th century, the park has been surrounded by a double row of lime trees and a monumental fence surrounding it. The park was most recently renovated between 2000 and 2002.
Royal Palace of Brussels (Center of Brussels)
In many ways The Royal Palace of Brussels symbolizes the constitutional Monarchy, and Being the King’s administrative residence and main workplace, where he works daily with his staff, the Brussels palace has become the place where the King receives the representatives of political institutions, foreign guests such as heads of state, ambassadors and other royalty. The Palace comprises also prestige reception rooms where various activities of the King and the Royal Family are organized. And even though the palace isn’t usually open to the public, a tradition has been established since 1965 to open the Brussels Palace to the public every summer after the National Holiday on July 21st until September.
The BELvue Museum
The Hôtel Bellevue, being built in the 18th-century has a neoclassical style to it. Since its opening, the BELvue Museum, has has made use of a modern theme-based approach to its interactive exhibition layout offering its visitors the keys to understanding Belgium and Belgian society. Seven social themes are addressed within the museum’s walls: democracy, prosperity, solidarity, pluralism, migration, language and Europe. Each theme is firstly presented from the perspective of the present day, then subsequently developed and explained through the history of Belgium.
Place Des Palais
The Place Royale is a historic neoclassical square built between 1775 and 1782 as part of an urban project including Brussels' Park. The Place Royale was built on the former site of the Place des Bailles, the main market square adjacent to the former Palace of Coudenberg, which had served as the seat of power of the Dukes of Brabant. At the centre of the square is an equestrian statue of Godfrey of Bouillon, the leader of the first crusade in 1096. It was sculpted by Eugène Simonis in 1848 to replace the statue of Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine that had been melted down for the metal during the French Revolution.
The Church of St. James on Coudenberg
The medieval abbey church that originally stood on this location was demolished by command of Charles Alexander of Lorraine, Governor of the Austrian Netherlands, during his expansive urban planning projects, despite having escaped the great fire of 1731 that destroyed the nearby Coudenberg Palace. Through modernization the building lost somewhat of its typical neoclassical temple-like appearance by the addition in the 19th-century of a bell tower. Because of its historic value the church's interior and facade have been protected through royal decree since 1959.
Musical Instruments Museum
The MIM collection was created in 1877 and was originally attached to the Royal Conservatory of Brussels with the purpose of demonstrating early instruments to students. Since 2000, the museum has been located in the former Old England department store, built in 1899 by Paul Saintenoy out of girded steel and glass in the Art Nouveau style, as well as the adjoining 18th-century neoclassical building designed by Barnabé Guimard.
Gallerie Ravenstein
The Gallerie Ravenstein actually occupies the old location of the Palais Granvelle, which was a rennaissance palace destroyed in 1931.On an interesting note, some of the offices, as well as the ticketing office of The Belgian National Orchestra are located in this gallery. The national orchestra is the most prestigious orchestra of Belgian and has the Brussels Centre for Fine Arts often referred as BOZAR as its principal concert venue.
The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium
The museum was founded in 1801 by Napoleon Bonaparte] and opened in 1803 as the Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels. The six museums housed within the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium are the Oldmasters Museum, the Magritte Museum, the Fin-de-Siècle Museum, the Antoine Wiertz Museum and the Constantin Meunier Museum. The Royal Museums contains over 20,000 drawings, sculptures, and paintings, which date from the early 15th century to the present.
Old Fortification Wall
There were two stages of fortifications of Brussels, the first walls, built in the early 13th century, were a series of fortifications erected around the Belgian city of Brussels. The now superfluous walls were dismantled between the 16th and 18th centuries. Today, only a few sections of either remain.
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