King's Street

The backbone of this walk is the Koningsstraat. Since the end of the 18th century, Brussels citizens have been seeking an alternative to the cramped, expensive, and unhealthy city center. Along this straight axis atop the ridge, urbanization pushes into the rural Schaarbeek, which at that time had almost as many donkeys as inhabitants. Many houses from that time still stand: prestigious bourgeois residences on the higher main street, more modest buildings on the slopes towards the Zenne valley (to the west) and the Maalbeek valley (to the east).

The imposing dome of the Royal St. Mary’s Church seems to close off the Koningsstraat on the north side. This is just an illusion: the straight axis runs around the church, all the way to the Schaarbeek station. The Koningsstraat is part of the Royal Tracé that connects the Palace of Justice through the Royal Palace of Brussels to the castle in Laeken. The Tracé was laid out under the reign of King Leopold II, modeled after the Parisian boulevards.

UiTinBrussel