Tuesday, April 02, 2013

BRUSSELS - THE ROYAL PARK

Despite the unusual cold weather at the end of March, I went for a walk through the ROYAL PARK also called the "Parc de Bruxelles". It is the largest urban public park in the center of Brussels. The area of the rectangular park is 13.1 ha (32 acres). It is surrounded by the Royal Palace of Brussels, the Belgian parliament and the U.S.A. embassy. In the summer, free parties are organized every weekend in the heart of this park.

In September 1830 the royal park became the cradle of the Belgian independence. After an uproar had broken out in the Brussels Opera, the revolutionary army fought the Dutch army in the royal park in order to break away from the union with Holland and the Dutch king, William I. The Dutch army had to leave Brussels on September the 27th, which finally resulted in the creation of a new state, Belgium.



The Royal Palace



and its gates. You may notice that there are no guards anymore, the King found that it was not human to let soldiers in fancy uniforms standing there and being bothered by tourists. Before you could watch the change of the guards which was quiet spectacular.



Besides the palace are beautiful buildings, which once were the homes to the aristocracy



Just in front is the entrance of the park



Unfortunately I couldn't find out the meaning of the sculpture, representing an angel with a horse head



The entrance



As it was Easter Sunday, the city of Brussels had organized a big Easter egg hunting for the children.
Apparently 30 000 eggs were distributed. Despite the very cold weather the park was full



Spring still seems to be far away, because the park looked rather "naked"



But children had fun !





There are many beautiful sculptures in the park





and in summer you can listen to concerts given here



The park is also surrounded by governmental buildings and the American Embassy






and just opposite the Royal Palace separated by the park is the Belgian Federal Parliament





The first King of Belgium Leopold 1st overlooks the park where Belgium was born



From far away you can see the Palace of Justice



A statue in honor of Godfrey de Bouillon

17 comments:

Rajesh said...

Beautiful shots of the place an architectural treasure.

diane b said...

Thanks for the tour around this beautiful park with its surrounding gracious buildings. It does look cold and not much like Spring yet. You must show us this park in Summer when its all green.

eastcoastlife said...

Interesting tour, love the majestic Royal Palace. Your King is caring to his subjects! :)

Linens and Royals said...

Beautiful, almost as good as Buckingham Palace. I'm sure you will soon find out the story of the Angel and Horse head statue and tell us.
Shame about no more Changing of the Guard but I think the King is very kind.

Marja said...

Great pictures and how nice of your king to think about the guards. I actually have a photo of King Leopold on his horse from L'editions of Art

Anonymous said...

Tram tracks. Belgium has trams too? Origins of Belgium too. Nice photos, taken in poor light. I shouldn't take the bright light in Australia for granted.

LifeRamblings said...

what a gorgeous palace. thanks for the virtual tour.

Jaime Clark said...

Many beautiful images of an amazing historical town.

Pearl said...

I suppose by hiding eggs, adults get to play a sort of hide and go seek. It is always fun to see the child's wonder.

Friko said...

A very continental park, it reminds me of some parks in Germany too.

Brussels is quite an exciting city, with more to offer than is generally thought in the UK.

Jo said...

What a beautiful park and such beautiful buildings. I love that people are enjoying it in your post. Glad that spring is in the air and that you're back to your previous energetic self! Jo

A Lady's Life said...

So interesting Loved the Leopold statue. Hope it gets warmer your end soon.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

What a beautiful park to walk in! A nice way to spend Easter Sunday (or any Sunday).

Gracie said...

Wow really impressive! The palace reminds me of Versailles and the park a little like Schonnbrunn....nice place, but I guess it'a much better on summer, right?

Chrissy Brand said...

One of my favourite cities!

Haddock said...

Had been to Brussels two years ago but I got to see more from your photographs.

Annesphamily said...

You tell such wonderful details and take amazing photos. Thank you. A lovely tour.

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I love writing, traveling and photography. . I am German, married to an Italian and we live in Waterloo (15 km from Brussels) / Belgium since many years. Waterloo is a famous place to many tourists, because Napoleon lost his battle here against Wellington and other European countries.

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