Metro Herb Garden

Welcome! We start the walk with a view over the former Herb Garden of Brussels, a park with a classical, geometric structure. The bronze animals that adorn almost every corner are creations of the cream of 19th-century Belgian sculptors. The former Orangerie, where tropical plants bloomed under green roofs and a central dome, was inaugurated in 1829 by King William I. Throughout the 20th century, all sorts of railway and roadworks ate away at large portions of the Herb Garden.

For Expo 58, the park was redesigned by the renowned landscape architect René Péchère, and most of the botanical collection was moved to the botanical garden in Meise. The greenhouses were left abandoned for more than thirty years. Until the French Community established the cultural center Le Botanique there in 1978, with concert halls and exhibition spaces. At the end of this walk, we will explore the romantically designed, lower-lying parts of the Herb Garden.

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