Page 78 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - Brussels Bruges Ghent & Antwerp

76  BRUSSELS AREA B Y AREA

once was, this wonderfully though EU officials have access
ornate house, with its curved to the pool.
wrought­iron balus trades and This whole area is naturally
balconies, is a fine architectural full of hustle and bustle during
feat considering that the man the day, but visitors will find it
who designed it, Gustave much quieter in the evenings
Strauven, was only 22 years old and it can feel almost deserted
when it was built at the turn of at weekends. What is pleasant
the 20th century. at any time, though, is the
proximity of a number of
the city’s wonderful green
p Quartier Européen spaces, which include Parc du
Cinquantenaire (see pp76–7),
Map 3 B3. @ 12, 21, 22, 27, 36, 60, 64,
79. q Maelbeek, Schuman. Parc Léopold and the verdant
Square Ambiorix.
The area at the top of the
Rue de la Loi and around the
Schuman roundabout is where
the main buildings of the Euro­
pean Union’s admin istration
can be found.
The most recognizable of
all the EU seats is the cross­
The Art Nouveau façade of No. 11 shaped Berlaymont building,
Square Ambiorix a gigantic modernist structure
which is sometimes, rather
o Square Ambiorix unflatteringly, referred to as
the “Berlaymonster”. This is the
Map 3 B2. @ 12, 21, 22, 29, 36, 60, 63,
64, 79. q Schuman. headquarters of the European
Commission, whose workers
Close to the EU district, but are, in effect, civil servants of the
totally different in style and EU. The Council of Ministers, Paintings and sculpture on show in the
spirit, lies the beautiful Square which comprises represent­ Musée Wiertz gallery
Ambiorix. Together with the atives of member­states’
Avenue Palmerston and governments, now meets in a Musée Wiertz
the Square Marie­Louise the sprawling pink granite Rue Vautier 62,1050 BRU. Map 3 A4.
below that, this marshland block across the road from Tel (02) 648 1718. @ 12, 21, 22, 27,
was transformed in the 1870s the Berlaymont. This building 34, 36, 38, 54, 59, 60, 64, 71, 80, 95.
into one of the loveliest is known as Justus Lipsius, after q Maelbeek, Schuman, Trone.
residential parts of Brussels, a Flemish philosopher. Open 10am–noon & 12:45–5pm Tue–
with a large central area of Further down the road from Fri. Closed Mon, weekends, public
gardens, ponds and fountains. the Justus Lipsius building is hols. ∑ fine-arts-museum.be
The elegant houses have the Résidence Palace, a luxury
made this one of the truly 1920s housing complex that Musée Wiertz houses some 160
sought­after suburbs in the city. boasts a theatre, an Art Deco works, including oil paintings,
The most spectacular Art pool and a roof garden, as well drawings and sculp tures, which
Nouveau example is at No. 11. as several floors of private flats. form the main body of Antoine
Known as the Maison Saint Cyr, It now houses the International Wiertz’s (1806–65) artistic
after the painter whose Press Centre. Only the output. The collection fills the
home it theatre is open to studio built for Wiertz by the
the public, Belgian state, where he lived
and worked from 1850 until his
death in 1865, when the studio
became a museum.
The huge main room con tains
Wiertz’s largest paintings, many
depicting biblical and Homeric
scenes, some in the style of
Rubens. Also on display are
sculptures and his death mask.
The last of the six rooms
contains his more gruesome
efforts, one entitled Madness,
The Justus Lipsius, the pink granite EU Council building Hunger and Crime.

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