Part 13

Returning to the Place Royale, and continuing along the =Rue de la Régence=, the first building on the L. closed with a grille, is the Palace of the Comté de Flandre. Nearly opposite it (with four granite pillars) is the Palais des Beaux-Arts, containing the Ancient Pictures (already noticed). Further on to the R. we arrive at the church of =Notre-Dame-des-Victoires= (“Église du Sablon”), to be described in detail hereafter. The pretty and coquettish little garden on the L. is the =Square= or =Place du Petit Sablon=. It contains a modern monument to Counts Egmont and Hoorn, the martyrs of Belgian freedom, by Fraikin, and is worth a visit. The little statuettes on the parapet of the square represent artisans of the old Guilds of Brussels. The building at the back of the Place is the Palace of the Duke d’Arenberg: its central part was Count Egmont’s mansion (erected 1548). Further on, to the L., come the handsome building of the Conservatoire de Musique and then the Jewish Synagogue. The end of the street is blocked by the gigantic and massive _façade_ of the new =Palais de Justice=, one of the hugest buildings of our period, imposing by its mere colossal size and its almost Egyptian solidity, but not architecturally pleasing. The interior need not trouble you.

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=Northward= from the Place Royale, again, stretches the =Rue Royale=, along which, as we walk, we have ever before us the immense gilt dome of =Ste. Marie de Schaerbeck=. This fine street was admirably laid out in 1774 by the architect Guimard, who was the founder of the modern plan of Brussels. It is a fine promenade, along the very edge of the hill, beautifully varied, and affording several attractive glimpses over the earlier town by means of breaks in the line of houses, left on purpose by Guimard, some of which have, however, been unfortunately built up. Starting from the Place Royale, we have first, on our R., the Hôtel Bellevue; beyond which, round the corner, facing the Park, extends the unprepossessing white _façade_ of the =King’s Palace= (18th century, rebuilt). Then, again on the R., we arrive at the pretty little =Park=, laid out by Guimard in 1774, on the site of the old garden of the Dukes of Brabant. This is a pleasant lounging-place, animated in the afternoon, when the band plays. It contains ponds, sculpture, nursemaids, children, and one of the principal theatres.

Continuing still northward, we pass the Statue of Belliard, in the first break, and then the Montagne du Parc, L., leading direct to the Lower Town. At the end of the Park, the Rue de la Loi runs R., eastward, towards the Exhibition Buildings. The great block of public offices in this street, facing the Park, includes the Chamber of Representatives (=Palais de la Nation=) and the principal Ministries. Beyond these we get, on the L., a glimpse of the Cathedral, and on the R. a number of radiating streets which open out towards the fashionable =Quartier Léopold=. Then, on the L., we arrive at the =Place du Congrès= with its Doric =column=, commemorating the Congress which ratified the Independence in 1831. It can be ascended (193 steps, spiral) for the sake of its admirable =*view=, the best general outlook to be obtained over Brussels. (A few sous should be given to the guardian.) The prospect from the summit (morning light best) will enable you to identify every principal building in the city (good map by Kiessling, 72, Montagne de la Cour).

Continuing our route, the street to the R. leads to the little Place de la Liberté. Beyond this, the Rue Royale goes on to the Outer Boulevards, and finally ends at =Ste. Marie de Schaerbeck=, a gigantic modern Byzantine church, more splendid than beautiful, but a good termination for an afternoon ramble.

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The =Outer Boulevards= of Brussels, which ring round the original 14th century city, have now been converted into magnificent =promenades=, planted with trees, and supplied with special lanes for riders. These Boulevards, perhaps the handsomest in the world, replace the =ancient walls=, erected in 1357-1379, when the town had already reached such considerable limits. Most of what is interesting or important in Brussels is still to be found within the irregular pentagonal ring of the Boulevards. A pleasant way of seeing the whole round is to take the =electric tram=, from the Gare du Nord, by the =Upper Boulevards=, to the Gare du Midi. You first mount the steep hill, with the Botanical Gardens on your L., backed by the extensive hot-houses. The line then crosses the Rue Royale, looking L. towards Ste. Marie de Schaerbeck, and R. towards the Place Royale. As you turn the corner, you have on your L. a small triangular garden, and on your R. the circular Place des Barricades, with a statue of the great anatomist Vesalius, physician to Charles V., and an indirect victim of the Inquisition. The rail then bends round the Boulevard du Régent, with glimpses (to the R.) of the Park, and (to the L.) of the Squares in the Quartier Léopold. You next pass, R., the =Palais des Académies=, in its neatly kept garden, beyond which you arrive at the private gardens of the Royal Palace and the Place du Trône. Hence you continue to the Place de Namur and the Fontaine de Brouckere, and continue on to the Place Louise, at which point the open =Avenue Louise= leads direct to the pleasant =Bois de la Cambre=. The Boulevard de Waterloo carries you on to the =Porte de Hal=, the only one of the old gateways still standing. This is a massive fortress of irregular shape, built in 1381, and it was used by the Spanish authorities in the time of Alva as the Bastille of Brussels. The =interior= (open free, daily) contains a fine winding staircase and a small =collection of arms= and armour, with a little Ethnographical Museum, which is worth ten minutes’ visit in passing. Hence, the Boulevard du Midi conducts you straight to the Gare du Midi, from which point you can return, on foot or by tram, through the Inner Boulevards or diagonally through the old town, to your hôtel.

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The remainder of the =Outer Boulevards=, leading from the Gare du Midi to the Gare du Nord by the _western_ half of the town, is commonly known as the =Lower Boulevards=, (Note the distinction of Upper, Lower, and Inner.) It passes through a comparatively poor quarter, and is much less interesting than the other half. The only objects of note on its circuit are the slaughter houses and the basins of the canal. Nevertheless, a complete tour of the Boulevards, Upper, Lower, and Inner, will serve to give you a better general conception of Brussels within the old walls than you can otherwise obtain.

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I cannot pretend in this Guide to point out all the objects of interest in Modern Brussels, within this great ring. Speaking generally, the reader will find pleasant walks for spare moments in the quarter between the Rue Royale or the Rue de la Régence and the Upper Boulevards. This district is high, healthy, and airy, and is chiefly given over to official buildings. On the other hand, the quarter between these two streets and the Inner Boulevards, especially southward about the Place St. Jean and the Rue de l’Étuve, leads through some interesting portions of 17th century and 18th century Brussels, with occasional good domestic architecture. The district lying W. of the Inner Boulevards is of little interest, save in its central portion already indicated. It is the quarter of docks, entrepôts, and the more squalid side of wholesale business.

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The immense area of Brussels =outside the Outer Boulevards= I cannot pretend to deal with. Pleasant walks may be taken at the E. end of the town about the Chaussée de Louvain, the Square Marie-Louise, the Exhibition Grounds, the Parc Léopold (near which is the too famous Musée Wiertz), and the elevated land in the eastern quarter generally. The =Bois de la Cambre=, the true park of Brussels, makes a delightful place to walk or drive in the afternoon, especially on Sundays. It somewhat resembles the Bois de Boulogne, but is wilder and prettier. Perhaps the most satisfactory way of visiting it is to take the tram to the gate of the wood, and then walk through it.

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There are =three other churches=, beside the Cathedral, in the neighbourhood of the Place Royale, which you may go to see, _if_ you have plenty of time left, but which you need not otherwise trouble about. The three can be easily combined in a single short round.

Go down the Montagne du Parc, and take the first turning to the L., Rue des Douze Apôtres, which will bring you direct to the little =Chapelle de l’Expiation=, erected in 1436, on the site of the synagogue where the Stolen Hosts were profaned, and in expiation of the supposed crime. The exterior of the building has been modernized, and indeed the whole is of little interest, save in connection with the Cathedral and the Stolen Hosts; but a glance inside is not undesirable. The interior, flamboyant Gothic, is thoroughly well decorated throughout, in modern polychrome, with scenes from the Gospel History. The Apse has good modern stained-glass windows, and frescoes of angels holding the instruments of the Passion. It is separated from the Nave by a high Rood-Loft, without a screen. Modern taste has here almost entirely ignored the painful and malicious story of the Stolen Wafers.

Now, continue down the Rue des Sols as far as the Rue de l’Impératrice (where a slight _détour_ to the R. takes you in front of the Université Libre, a large and somewhat imposing, but uninteresting building). Continue rather to the L. down the Rue de l’Impératrice, crossing the Montagne de la Cour, into the Rue de l’Empereur and the Rue d’Or, till you arrive at the Place de la Chapelle, containing the church of =Notre-Dame de la Chapelle=—after the Cathedral, the finest mediæval church of Brussels. The =exterior= has lately (alas!) been quite too much restored. It shows a fine Nave and Aisles of the 15th century, and a much lower and very beautiful Choir of the 13th century, with some Romanesque details of an earlier building (10th century?) Walk once round the church, to observe the exterior architecture. The West Front is massive rather than beautiful. The sculpture over the door (the Trinity with angels, and Our Lady) is modern. Over the southern portal is a modern relief, in a Romanesque tympanum, representing the Coronation of Our Lady by God the Father and the Son. The Romanesque and transitional work of the beautiful low Choir and Apse has unfortunately been over-restored.

The =interior=, with its fine Nave and Aisles, is impressive, especially as you look from the centre down towards the West end. The round pillars of the Nave are handsome, and have the usual figures of the Twelve Apostles. The _pulpit_ is one of the familiar 17th century monstrosities, with palms, and Elijah in the Wilderness. The interior of the pretty little Apse has been so completely modernized as to leave it little interest. There are a few good pictures of the School of Rubens (De Crayer, Van Thulden, etc.).

On emerging from the church, follow the tramway line up the hill to the market-place of the =Grand Sablon=. Good views in every direction as you enter the Place. The square is animated on Fridays and Sundays, when markets are held here. Pass through the market-place, which contains an absurd 18th century monument, erected by a Marquis of Ailesbury of the period, in gratitude for the hospitality he had received from the citizens of Brussels, and continue on to the Rue de la Régence, passing on your R. the beautiful Apse of the church of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires, now unhappily in course of restoration. The entrance is in the Rue de la Régence, and the church is _not_ oriented.

=Notre-Dame-des-Victoires=, or Notre-Dame du Sablon, was founded in 1304 by the Guild of Crossbowmen; but the existing late-Gothic building is almost entirely of the 15th and 16th centuries. It has been over-restored in parts, and the beautiful crumbling exterior of the Apse is now threatened with disfigurement.

The =interior= is pleasing. Over the Main Entrance, within, is a curious _ex voto_ of a ship, in commemoration of the arrival of a sacred image, said to have floated miraculously by sea.

The _first chapel_ to your L. as you enter has a *tomb of Count Flaminio Gamier, secretary to the Duke of Parma, partly restored, but with fine original alabaster reliefs of the early Renaissance, representing the History of the Virgin. The series begins below: (1) Meeting of Joachim and Anna at the Golden Gate; (2) The Birth of the Virgin; (3) The Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple. Then, above: (4) Annunciation; note the relative positions of the angel and Our Lady, the lily, the _prie-dieu_, and the loggia in the background; (5) the Visitation, with the usual arch; and (6) the Presentation of Christ in the Temple.

The =Apse= has restored figures of saints (named) in imitation of those which were discovered in ruined fresco during the restoration. They are a good typical collection of the saints most venerated in the Low Countries in the Middle Ages.

The =Nave= has the usual figures of Apostles, named, and a small open Triforium just below the Clerestory. The Pulpit has on its face a medallion of Our Lady; R. and L., Moses and St. Augustine. Below, the four beasts of the Evangelists.

You need not trouble about any other special building in Brussels; but you may occupy yourself pleasantly with many walks through all parts of the city.

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You are now in a position to understand the =growth and spread of Brussels=. From the very beginning, the merchant town occupied the _valley_, while the capital of the Counts, Dukes, or Sovereigns spread over the _hill_, in the neighbourhood of what are still significantly called the Montagne de la Cour and the Place Royale. To this day the two contrasted parts of the city are broadly distinct. The valley speaks Flemish; the mountain, French. In the valley stand all the municipal and mercantile buildings—the Hôtel-de-Ville, the Bourse, the Post-Office, the markets, and the principal places of wholesale business. On the hill stand the Royal Palace, the Government Offices, the Legislative Body, the Ministries, the Palais de Justice, and the whole of the National Museums and collections. From this point of view again, in our own day, the valley is _municipal_, and the hill _national_. The contrasted aspects of the Inner Boulevards and the Rue de la Régence well mark the difference. In the valley, you will find, once more, the hotels of commerce and of the passing traveller; on the hill, those frequented by ambassadors and the wealthier class of foreign tourists. Near the Place Royale were situated the houses of the old Brabant nobility, the Egmonts and the Cuylenburgs; as at the present day are situated those of the Arenbergs and the De Chimays.

=Historically=, the spread of the town from its centre began towards the Castle of the =Counts of Louvain= and Dukes of Brabant, in the Ancienne Cour, now occupied by the Royal Library and the Modern Picture Gallery, as well as towards the ecclesiastical quarter of the Cathedral and the Chancellerie. The antiquity of this portion of the Upper Town is well marked by the continued existence of the mediæval churches of Notre-Dame de la Chapelle, Notre-Dame-des-Victoires, and the Chapelle de l’Expiation. Under the =Burgundian princes=, Brussels ranked second to Ghent and Bruges; but after the =Hapsburgs= obtained possession of the Low Countries, it was made the principal residence of the sovereigns in their western domains. Charles V. inhabited it as one of his chief capitals. Under Philip II. of Spain, it became the official residence of the Stadtholder of the Netherlands; and Margaret of Parma, who bore that office, held her court in the old Palace. From that time forth Brussels was recognised as the common capital of the southern Low Countries. The Austrian Stadtholders habitually lived here; and when, after the Napoleonic upheaval, Belgium and Holland were united into a single kingdom, Brussels was made the alternative capital with Amsterdam. By the time that Belgium asserted her independence in 1830, Brussels had thus obtained the prescriptive right to become the seat of government of the new nation.

The old Palace had been burnt down in 1731, and the outer wings of the existing Palace were built by the Austrians shortly after. It was they, too, who laid out the Rue Royale and Place Royale, with the Park and its surroundings, as we still see them at the present day. To the Austrian rulers are also due the Parliamentary Buildings: but the Palais des Académies was built under Dutch rule in 1829. Since 1830 the town has been greatly beautified and improved. The Inner Boulevards have been opened through the labyrinth of streets in the old centre: the Palais de Justice has been built, the Quartier Léopold has grown up, and great edifices have been erected at Schaerbeck and elsewhere on the outskirts.

At the present day, of Brussels =within the Boulevards=, the Hill District is _governmental and fashionable_; the Central District, _municipal and commercial_: the Western District contains the markets, basins, canals, and _wholesale business_ side of the city. =Without the Boulevards=, Fashion has spread eastward towards the Bois de la Cambre and the Parc Léopold. The poorer districts run southward and westward. But every part of the city is amply provided with wide thoroughfares and open breathing-spaces. In this respect, Brussels is one of the best-arranged cities in Europe.

_F_. SURROUNDINGS

The only =excursion= of interest in the immediate neighbourhood of Brussels is that to =Laeken= (recommended), which may be taken by tram from the Inner Boulevards, the Gare du Nord, the Gare du Midi, Bourse, etc. Cars run every 10 minutes. The modern =Church of St. Mary= at Laeken is a handsome unfinished building. A little to the R. lie the Park and the =Royal Château=, inaccessible and unimportant. The road behind the church ascends the Montagne du Tonnerre, a little hill with a =Monument to Léopold I.=, not unlike the Albert Memorial in London. A good =*view= of Brussels is obtained from the summit of the monument, ascended by a winding staircase. (No fee.) The easiest way to make this excursion is by carriage _in the afternoon_.

Unless you are a military man or a student of tactics, I do not advise you to undertake the dull and wearisome excursion to =Waterloo=. The battle-field is hot and shade-less in summer, cold and draughty in spring and autumn. The points of interest, such as they are, lie at considerable distances. Waterloo is country, and ugly country—no more. The general traveller who desires to be conducted round the various strategic landmarks of the field will find his wants amply catered for by Baedeker. But I advise him to forego that foregone disappointment.

The time saved by _not_ visiting Waterloo may, however, be well devoted to a morning excursion to

LOUVAIN.

[This ancient and important town, which should be visited both on account of its magnificent =Hôtel-de-Ville=, and in order to make a better acquaintance with =Dierick Bouts=, the town painter, can be conveniently reached by train from the Gare du Nord. The best trains take little more than half an hour to do the journey. A single morning is sufficient for the excursion, especially if you start early. Wednesday is the most convenient day, as a quick train then returns about 1.30. (Consult Bradshaw.) Lunch can be obtained (good) in the large white building on the left-hand side of the Hôtel-de-Ville. (It is a private club, but contains a public restaurant, on the R., within, to which, push through boldly.) If you have Conway, take him with you on this excursion, to compare the doubtful Roger van der Weyden at St. Pierre with the woodcut he gives of its supposed original at Madrid. Read before you start (or on the way) his admirable accounts of Roger van der Weyden and Dierick Bouts.

=Louvain= is, in a certain sense, =the mother city of Brussels=. Standing on its own little navigable river, the Dyle, it was, till the end of the 14th century, the capital of the Counts and of the Duchy of Brabant. It had a large population of weavers, engaged in the cloth trade. Here, as elsewhere, the weavers formed the chief bulwark of freedom in the population. In 1378, however, after a popular rising, Duke Wenseslaus besieged and conquered the city; and the tyrannical sway of the nobles, whom he re-introduced, aided by the rise of Ghent or, later, of Antwerp, drove away trade from the city. Many of the weavers emigrated to Holland and England, where they helped to establish the woollen industry.

During the early Middle Ages, Louvain was also celebrated for its =University=, founded in 1426, and suppressed by the French in 1797. It was re-established by the Dutch in 1817, but abandoned by the Belgian Government in 1834, and then started afresh in the next year as a free private Roman Catholic University. Charles V. was educated here.

The modern town has shrunk far away within its ancient ramparts, whose site is now for the most part occupied by empty Boulevards. It is still the stronghold of Roman Catholic theology in Belgium.]

As you emerge from the station, you come upon a small Place, adorned with a statue (by Geefs) of Sylvain van de Weyer, a revolutionary of 1830, and long Belgian Minister in England. Take the long straight street up which the statue looks. This leads direct to the Grand’ Place, the centre of the town, whence the chief streets radiate in every direction, the ground-plan recalling that of a Roman city.

The principal building in the Grand’ Place is the =Hôtel-de-Ville=, standing out with three sides visible from the Place, and probably the finest civic building in Belgium. It is of very florid late-Gothic architecture, between 1448 and 1463. Begin first with the left _façade_, exhibiting three main storeys, with handsome Gothic windows. Above come a gallery and then a gable-end, flanked by octagonal turrets, and bearing a similar turret on its summit. In the centre of the gable is a little projecting balcony of the kind so common on Belgian civic buildings. The architecture of the niches and turrets is of very fine florid Gothic, in better taste than that at Ghent of nearly the same period. The statues which fill the niches are modern. Those of the first storey represent personages of importance in the local history of the city: those of the second, the various mediæval guilds or trades: those of the third, the Counts of Louvain and Dukes of Brabant of all ages. The bosses or corbels which support the statues are carved with scriptural scenes in high relief. I give the subjects of a few (beginning L.): the reader must decipher the remainder for himself. The Court of Heaven: The Fall of the Angels into the visible Jaws of Hell: Adam and Eve in the Garden: The Expulsion from Paradise: The Death of Abel, with quaint rabbits escaping: The Drunkenness of Noah: Abraham and Lot: etc.