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VIEWS FROM A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD
#32 - BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

Size: 3" x 5"
Copyrighted: 1891
Lithographer: Joseph P. Knapp

Brussels, Belgium - King's Palace; Hotel de Ville
Illustrations: The King's Palace; A Country Girl; An Iron Founder; Hotel de Ville

Reverse - Text
Left section: GRIND YOUR COFFEE AT HOME
Right section:
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM.
Brussels, the Capital of Belgium and Province of S. Brabant, is on the small River Senne, about 50 miles from the sea, in the midst of a beautiful and fertile country. The city is built partly on the side of a hill and partly on a plain, some of the streets so steep as to be ascended by carriages with difficulty. The city may be considered as consisting of two parts, each presenting characteristics peculiar to itself; the upper town situated on the brow of a hill, is the newest and most fashionable part, containing the residences chiefly of the wealthy; the King's palace, public offices, large hotels, and mansions of the foreign ministers are here. It is much healthier than the lower town. But the latter, with its handsome old buildings, once occupied by the nobility, now used for business purposes, is very picturesque. French is spoken in the newer town, Flemish in the older one, and in one quarter the Walloon dialect is spoken. There are also many English residents, who live there for the sake of economy.
The walls which formerly surrounded Brussels have given place to boulevards shaded by lines of trees extending several miles. The Allée Verte, a double avenue along the Scheldt canal, forms a splendid promenade and leads towards the Palace of Lacken, the suburban residence of the royal family. The Place Royal has a colossal monument of Godfrey of Bouillon, the hero of Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered. The Hotel de Ville is a splendid Gothic structure erected in the beginning of the fifteenth century, with a pyramidal tower, 364 feet high, surmounted by a statue of St. Michael, the patron saint of Brussels. The spire of the Hotel de Ville is the most beautiful in Belgium. The Palais de Justice--opened in 1883--is a magnificent building, the cost of its erection being two million pounds.
Brussels is mentioned in the old chronicles as early as the eighth century, and a church is known to have existed here in 966.
Population, 477,398.