New guide to largely ignored Brussels neighbourhood
A Flemish historian has produced a walking guide to the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ter-Sneeuwwijk, the astonishing but unexplored neighbourhood that is home to the Flemish parliament
A literary and artistic walk
“Formerly a district populated by washerwomen and workers, artists and models, wealthy citizens and absinthe drinkers, it is now a part of town where you bump into members of parliament and politicians in and around Vrijheidsplein,” explains parliament speaker Jan Peumans.
The guide was written by Eric Min, a Flemish writer and historian best known for the book De eeuw van Brussel (The Century of Brussels), which examines cultural life of the 19th century. The new booklet is a more modest project that aims to take the reader on a literary and artistic walk around Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ter-Sneeuwwijk, or Our Lady of the Snow Quarter, which is home not only to the Flemish parliament, but the Walloon and federal parliament buildings.
From rags to riches
Named after an old chapel that was demolished in the 19th century, Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ter-Sneeuwwijk was once a notorious slum. The old houses were eventually torn down to create a neighbourhood for the city’s wealthiest residents, including the fabulously rich Edouard Empain, whose bank financed the construction of the Paris metro.
It would have been interesting to know more about Empain (whose mansion now stands empty on Vrijheidsplein), but Min prefers to focus attention on the cultural life that emerged in the shadow of the Belgian parliament.
He finds the residents of this chic neighbourhood adopting 19th-century French trends, such as the creation of panoramic viewpoints where the city could be admired. While visitors to Paris could climb the Eiffel Tower, tourists in Brussels could visit the parliament quarter to stand on Panoramaplein.
The booklet is illustrated with some striking archive photographs showing the neighbourhood in the 19th and early 20th centuries
Min also highlights the passion for Japanese art that swept through the district in the 19th century, influencing artists such as Fernand Khnopff and the Art Nouveau architect Paul Hankar.
The guide often describes fabulous buildings that are no longer standing, such as the exotic Eden theatre, where customers sat in a winter garden surrounded by grottos and palm trees, and the royal swimming pool, which became a theatre in the winter months.
The booklet is illustrated with some striking archive photographs showing the neighbourhood in the 19th and early 20th centuries, when it was the summit of elegance.
The author displays an intimate knowledge of the city’s cultural life, but creates the impression that this quarter was a monolingual French neighbourhood – almost an outpost of Paris. He might be right to devote several pages to the French literary giant Victor Hugo, who lived for several years in a house that still stands on Barricadenplein. But is it true that that all the cultural and social life was carried on in French?
It might have been a more interesting book if the parliament could have persuaded the author to identify artists and writers from the north of the country who played a part in the district’s cultural life.
Yet the guide is still a useful companion for visitors to the Flemish parliament who want to take a walk through the neighbourhood. They will discover an interesting urban area that remains under the tourist radar.
Op stap tussen tekens can be ordered or downloaded online from the Flemish parliament’s website
Photo courtesy Atrium
