Brussels (Fr. Bruxelles), the capital of Belgium, is situated in a fertile plain on the ditch-like Senne, twenty-seven miles south of Antwerp, and one hundred and ninety-three miles northeast of Paris. It has a circumference of about five miles, and is built partly on the side of a hill. Though some of the streets are so steep that they can be ascended only by means of stairs, Brussels may on the whole be pronounced one of the finest cities in Europe.
The fashionable Upper Town, in which are the royal palace, public offices, and chief hotels, is much more healthy than the older Lower Town, which is greatly subject to fogs, owing to its intersection by canals and the Senne, although the stream now passes under an arched covering, which supports a boulevard. But the closely built old streets, with their numerous handsome buildings, formerly belonging to the Brabant nobility, and now occupied by successful merchants and traders, have a fine picturesque appearance, while some of the public edifices are unrivaled as specimens of Gothic architecture.
THE TOWN HALL, OR
Hôtel de Ville, in Grande Place, near the center of the city, 1402, is regarded as architecturally one of the finest structures in Europe. Its tower rises to the height of three hundred and seventy feet, and is placed somewhat to one side of the center of the building.
French is spoken in the upper division; but in the lower Flemish is the current language prevalent, and by many the Walloon dialect is spoken.
The walls which formerly surrounded Brussels have been removed, and their place is now occupied by pleasant boulevards extending all around the old town, and shaded by alleys of limes. The Allée Verte—a double avenue along the Scheldt Canal—forms a splendid promenade, and leads toward the country palace of Laeken, three miles north of the city.
Besides the fine park of thirty-two acres, in the Upper Town, ornamented with fountains and statues, and surrounded by the palace and other state buildings, Brussels has several other squares or places, among which are: the Place Royale, with its colossal monument of Godfrey of Bouillon; the Grande Place, in which is the hôtel-de-ville, a splendid Gothic structure of the fifteenth century, with a spire of open stonework three hundred and sixty-four feet high; and the Place des Martyrs, where a memorial has been erected to those who fell here in the revolution of 1830. The statue group of the Counts Egmont and Horn is notable. The cathedral of St. Gudule, dating from the thirteenth century, has many richly painted windows, and a pulpit considered to be the masterpiece of Verbruggen. The Palais des Beaux Arts contains the finest specimens of the Flemish school of painting and a sculpture gallery. The Royal Library adjoining has half a million volumes.
The Palais de Justice, built in 1866-1883 at a cost of more than ten million dollars, is one of the most magnificent buildings in Europe, dominating the lower town from the terraced slope of the upper town. The Royal Palace and the National Palace (for the chambers) are important buildings. Besides the University, there are schools of painting and sculpture, and a conservatory of music.