Laeken
Brussels-Capital Region | |
Arrondissement | Brussels-Capital |
Municipality | City of Brussels |
Area | |
• Total | 9.25 km2 (3.57 sq mi) |
Population (2015) | |
• Total | 60,295 |
Website | Official website |
Laeken (French:
Toponymy
Etymology
The name Laeken (Dutch: Laken) derives from the Germanic Lacha or Lache ("water", "lake"),[1] because the Molenbeek brook at the time formed a network of ponds at this height.[2] The oldest mention of the village is in a diploma from 1080, where the name Gilbert de Lacha appears. There is also the mention Lachus in 1117.[3]
Main sights
Royal Palace
The
Royal Greenhouses
The Royal Domain also contains the large Royal Greenhouses of Laeken, a set of monumental dome-shaped constructions, accessible to the public only a few days a year. They were designed by Alphonse Balat, with the cooperation of the young Victor Horta.
Church of Our Lady
A little south of the Royal Palace, one can find the
Laeken Cemetery
Laeken Cemetery, located behind the church, is known as the Belgian Père Lachaise, after the famous cemetery in Paris, because it used to be the burial place of the rich and the famous. It harbours the graves of, among others, the symbolist painter Fernand Khnopff and the opera singer Maria Malibran, and also features an original cast of The Thinker (Le Penseur), by Auguste Rodin.
Chinese Pavilion and Japanese Tower
A little north of the Royal Palace stand the Chinese Pavilion and the
Other places of interest
Other places of interest in Laeken include the King Baudouin Stadium, the Bruparck entertainment park (with the Atomium, Mini-Europe miniature park and Kinepolis cinema), the Centenary Palace, home to the Brussels Exhibition Centre (Brussels Expo), the Monument to the Dynasty in Laeken Park, as well as the Port of Brussels, next to which the Monument to Work by Constantin Meunier was erected.
The impressive buildings of the former goods station of Tour & Taxis and the surrounding area border the neighbourhood, and will be turned into residences, as well as commercial enterprises.
Areas
Notable inhabitants
- Jeanne-Paule Marie "Jeannine" Deckers (1933–1985), singer, songwriter, and a nun, better known as 'The Singing Nun'
- Annie Cordy (1928–2020), actress and singer
- Étienne-François Letourneur (1751–1817), French lawyer, soldier, and politician of the French Revolution, died there.
- Xavier Mellery (1845–1921), Symbolist painter, draughtsman, illustrator and decorative artist
- Paul Ooghe (1899–2001), World War I veteran
- Belgian royal family, including King Philippe, Queen Mathilde and their children
- Stromae (Paul Van Haver) (b. 1985), singer-songwriter[6]
- Freddy Thielemans (1944–2022), politician and former mayor of the City of Brussels
See also
- History of Brussels
- Culture of Belgium
- Belgium in the long nineteenth century
References
Citations
- ^ Martine Wille and Jean-Marie Duvosquel (dir.), Autour du parvis Notre-Dame à Laeken (in French), Crédit Communal, 1994, p. 5
- ^ Jespers 2005, p. 387.
- ^ Maurits Gysseling, Toponymisch Woordenboek (in Dutch), 1960, p. 587
- ^ "The opulent homes of Europe's royal families". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on January 22, 2013. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
- .
- ^ Coljon, Thierry (December 24, 2010). "Ma journée avec Stromae, de Laeken à Vilvorde" [My day with Stromae, from Laeken to Vilvorde]. Le Soir (in French). Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
Bibliography
- Jespers, Jean-Jacques (2005). Dictionnaire des noms de lieux en Wallonie et à Bruxelles (in French). Brussels: Racine Lannoo. ISBN 978-2-87386-409-5.
External links
- Media related to Laeken at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website (in French, Dutch, and English)