King's Street

From the end of the 18th century, Brussels citizens looked for an alternative to the cramped, expensive, and unhealthy city center. Along this straight axis at the top of the ridge, urbanization advanced towards the rural Schaarbeek. 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 Koningsstraat features some architectural gems: at no. 284, you can see an art deco concrete building with striking light beacons, once built by the Dutch insurance company RVS, now owned by the municipality of Sint-Joost. The so-called Hotel Puccini (nos. 294-296), which resembles an Italian Renaissance palace, is now home to Familyhulp. And at no. 316, architect Paul Hamesse gave a neoclassical building a new look in art nouveau in 1904: the Ultieme Hallucinatie is one of the most famous restaurants in Brussels.

The imposing dome of the Royal St. Mary’s Church seems to close off the north side of the Koningsstraat. This is just an illusion: the straight axis continues around the church, all the way to the Schaarbeek station. The Koningsstraat is part of the Royal Axis that connects the Palace of Justice, via the Royal Palace of Brussels, to the Castle in Laeken. The Axis was constructed under the reign of King Leopold II, modeled after the boulevards of Paris.

• Turn right into the Cornet de Grezstraat opposite the Ultieme Hallucinatie. It rises slightly to the intersection with the Haachtsesteenweg. Cross the Haachtsesteenweg and stop briefly at the corner with the Overvloedstraat.

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