Page 82 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Belgium & Luxembourg

80  BEL GIUM AND L UXEMBOURG REGION B Y REGION

x Parc du Cinquantenaire

The finest of King Leopold II’s grand projects, the Parc and
Palais du Cinquantenaire were built for the Golden Jubilee
celebrations of Belgian independence in 1880. The park was
laid out on land used for military training. The palace, at its
entrance, was to comprise a triumphal arch and two large
exhibition areas, but by the time of the 1880 Art and Industry
Expo, only the two side exhibition areas had been completed.
Funds were eventually found and work continued for 50 years.
Before being converted into museums, the large halls on either . Musée Royal de l’Armée et
d’Histoire Militaire
side of the archway held trade fairs, the last of which was in The museum exhibits cover
1935. The halls have also been used for horse races and to house Belgium’s military history with
homing pigeons. During World War II, the grounds of the park over 200 years of militaria,
were used to grow vegetables to feed the people of Brussels. including historic aircraft.

Centrepiece Giant Archway
Originally conceived as a gateway into the city of Brussels,
the triumphal arch was completed only in 1905.

KEY
1 Pavillon Horta
2 The Grand Mosque was built as
the Egypt pavilion for the Expo in
1880. It became a mosque in 1978.
3 Underpass
4 The park is popular with
Brussels’s eurocrats and families at
lunch times and weekends.

0 metres 100
0 yards 100

Tree-lined Avenue
Many of the plantations of elms
and plane trees that make up the
forested walks date from 1880.
For hotels and restaurants see p266 and pp280–83

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