Page 75 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - Brussels Bruges Ghent & Antwerp

THE UPPER T OWN  73

One of the lavish fountains in the gardens of Petit Sablon
At the back of the gardens is palace has twice been rebuilt, in t Palais de Justice
a fountain built to commem­ 1750 and again in 1891, follow­ Place Poelaert 1, 1000 BRU. Map 1 C5.
orate Counts Egmont and ing a fire. Today, it belongs to Tel (02) 508 6578. v 92, 93, 94, 97.
Hornes, the martyrs who the Belgian Foreign Ministry. q Louise. Open 8am–5pm Mon–Fri.
led a Dutch uprising It was here that Great Closed Sat & Sun, public hols. 7
against the tyrannical Britain, Denmark and 8 on request.
rule of the Spanish under Ireland signed as members
Philip II, and were beheaded of the EEC in 1972. Though The Palais de Justice rules the
in the Grand Place in 1568 the palace itself is closed to Brussels skyline and can be seen
(see p33). On either side of the public, the gardens, from almost any vantage point
the fountain are 12 further whose entrances are on in the city. Of all the ambitious
statues of 15th­ and the Rue du Grand Cerf projects of King Leopold II, this
16th­century figures, and the Boulevard de was perhaps the grandest. It
including Bernard van Waterloo, are open. occupies an area larger than
Orley, whose stained­ There is a statue of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome and
glass win dows grace Peter Pan, a copy was one of the world’s most
the city’s cathedral, of one found in impressive 19th­century
and the Flemish Kensington Gard­ buildings. It was built between
map­maker ens, in London. 1866 and 1883 by architect
Gerhard Mercator, Statue of Peter Pan in Many of the gar­ Joseph Poelaert who looked for
whose 16th­century Palais d’Egmont gardens dens’ buildings are inspiration in classical temples,
projection of the now run down, but but died mid­construction in
world forms the basis of the ancient orangery has been 1879. The Palais de Justice is still
most modern maps. restored and has a restaurant. home to the city’s law courts.

r Palais d’Egmont
Rue aux Laines, 1000 BRU. Map 2 E4.
@ 27, 34, 38, 48, 63, 64, 65, 66, 71,
80, 95. v 92, 93, 94, 97. q Louise,
Parc. 7
The Palais d’Egmont (also
known as the Palais d’Aren berg)
was originally built in the mid­
16th century for Françoise of
Luxembourg, mother of the
16th­century leader of the city’s
rebels, Count Egmont. This Detail of a cornice at the Palais de Justice

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