Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is located in the central portion of the country and is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region, located less than 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) to the south. Historically Dutch-speaking, Brussels saw a language shift to French from the late 19th century. Nowadays, the Brussels-Capital Region is officially bilingual in French and Dutch, although French is the majority language and lingua franca. Brussels is also increasingly becoming multilingual. English is spoken widely and many migrants and expatriates speak other languages as well.
The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National Opera of Belgium, a federal institution, takes the name of this theatre in which it is housed—La Monnaie in French or De Munt in Dutch—referring both to the building as well as the opera company. As Belgium's leading opera house, it is one of the few cultural institutions to receive financial support from the Federal Government of Belgium. Other opera houses in Belgium, such as the Vlaamse Opera and the Opéra Royal de Wallonie, are funded by regional governments.
The City of Brussels is the largest municipality and historical centre of the Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the Flemish Region and Belgium. The City of Brussels is also the administrative centre of the European Union, as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions in its European Quarter.
The Parc du Cinquantenaire or Jubelpark is a large public, urban park of 30 ha in the easternmost part of the European Quarter in Brussels, Belgium.
Brussels Park is the largest urban public park in central Brussels, Belgium. Formerly known and still sometimes colloquially referred to as the Royal Park, it was the city's first public park, being originally laid out between 1776 and 1783 in a neoclassical style by the French architect Gilles-Barnabé Guimard and the Austrian landscape architect Joachim Zinner, as part of an urban project including the Place Royale/Koningsplein. The area of the rectangular park is 13.1 ha.
The Palace of Justice of Brussels or Law Courts of Brussels is a courthouse in Brussels, Belgium. It is the country's most important court building, seat of the judicial arrondissement of Brussels, as well as of several courts and tribunals, including the Court of Cassation, the Court of Assizes, the Court of Appeal of Brussels, the Tribunal of First Instance of Brussels, and the Bar Association of Brussels.
The Royal Conservatory of Brussels is a historic conservatory in Brussels, Belgium. Starting its activities in 1813, it received its official name in 1832. Providing performing music and drama courses, the institution became renowned partly because of the international reputation of its successive directors such as François-Joseph Fétis, François-Auguste Gevaert, Edgar Tinel, Joseph Jongen and Marcel Poot, but more because it has been attended by many of the top musicians, actors and artists in Belgium such as Arthur Grumiaux, José Van Dam, Sigiswald Kuijken, Josse De Pauw, Luk van Mello and Luk De Konink. Adolphe Sax, inventor of the saxophone, also studied at the Brussels Conservatory.
The Cercle Gaulois, in full the Cercle Royal Gaulois Artistique et Littéraire, is a Belgian club in Brussels that promotes art. The club has the aim of constituting a friendly, intellectual, artistic and literary meeting place, free of any political, cultural or philosophical tendency. Its current president is Philippe de Wouters d'Oplinter.
Adolphe-Abraham Samuel was a Belgian music critic, teacher, conductor and composer.
Alexandre Bultos was a Belgian comic actor and theatre director.
The Royal Park Theatre is a theatre in central Brussels, Belgium. It is located at 3, Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, on the edge of Brussels Park, facing the Belgian House of Parliament. It is served by Brussels-Central railway station, as well as by the metro stations Parc/Park and Arts-Loi/Kunst-Wet.
The following is a timeline of the history of Brussels, Belgium.
Neoclassical architecture appeared in Belgium during the period of Austrian occupation in the mid-18th century and enjoyed considerable longevity in the country, surviving through periods of French and Dutch occupation, and the birth of Independent Belgium, surviving well into the 20th century.
The Brussels City Museum is a municipal museum on the Grand-Place/Grote Markt of Brussels, Belgium. Conceived in 1860 and inaugurated in 1887, it is dedicated to the history and folklore of the City of Brussels from its foundation into modern times, which it presents through paintings, sculptures, tapestries, engravings, photos and models, including a notable scale-representation of the town during the Middle Ages.
The Cirque Royal (French) or Koninklijk Circus (Dutch), meaning "Royal Circus", is an entertainment venue in Brussels, Belgium. Conceived by the architect Wilhelm Kuhnen in 1953, the building has a circular appearance, but in fact is constructed as a regular polygon. It can hold 2,000 spectators, and nowadays is primarily used for live music shows.
The Port of Brussels is an inland port at a distance of 120 kilometres (75 mi) from the sea. It is accessible for ships up to 4,500 tonnes and push towing convoys up to 9,000 tonnes. Via the Brussels–Scheldt Maritime Canal even sea-going vessels can reach the outer port, and through the Brussels–Charleroi Canal the transit to Wallonia is assured. The port is located in the City of Brussels in the Brussels-Capital Region.
Albert Émile Clément Dubosq is one of the most prolific Belgian scenographers of the Belle Époque. Between 1890 and 1925 Dubosq decorated 446 theatrical entertainments of virtually every possible kind: ballet, circus, (melo)drama, opera, operetta, pantomime, revue, and vaudeville. Dubosq is furthermore one of the few scenic painters of his generation to have left a substantial sample of his art, namely twenty-one (near-)complete sets. Comprising Europe's largest holding of historical decors, the hundreds of flats and drops of the ‘Dubosq’ collection have survived at the Schouwburg of Kortrijk since 1920.
The Place de Brouckère or De Brouckèreplein (Dutch) is a major square in central Brussels, Belgium. It was created following the covering of the river Senne (1867–1871), replacing the Temple of the Augustinians, which was demolished in 1893. It is named in honour of Charles de Brouckère, a former mayor of the City of Brussels and professor at the Free University of Brussels, who played a great political role during the Belgian Revolution of 1830. The square measures approximately 50 by 350 metres and is nearly entirely paved.
The Place de la Monnaie or Muntplein (Dutch), meaning "Mint Square", is a major square in central Brussels, Belgium. The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie, home to the National Opera of Belgium, is located on this square. It is served by the metro and premetro station De Brouckère on lines 1, 3, 4 and 5.
The Enghien Gardens are a domain of 182 hectares in Enghien or 'Edingen', Wallonia, Belgium, created by the dukes of Arenberg in the 17th and 18th century. The park is a green oasis full of ponds, gardens and follies. By many, the gardens were considered a wonder of the world. From the Arenberg castle nothing remains other than the chapel tower. Within the park, a new château was created in the 20th century. The Enghien municipality acquired the gardens in 1986, and opened them to the public.
The Vauxhall in 1872, etching from L'Illustration Européenne
The Vauxhall in 2007
