Place du Luxembourg centers on a wide, stone-paved square dominated by a bronze statue of John Cockerill, the industrialist whose factories once powered the region. Behind the statue, the ornate, nineteenth-century facade of the…
European Quarter Institutions
We will walk through the glass-and-steel heart of the European Union, visiting the European Parliament, Leopold Park, and the grand Cinquantenaire park. This route highlights Brussels' modern identity as the bureaucratic capital of Europe, giving you a firsthand sense of the scale and international energy driving global politics.
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1. Place du Luxembourg
2. Parlamentarium
The Parlamentarium is marked by a wide, glass-walled facade that curves along the street, revealing rows of brightly colored, suspended seating modules visible from the sidewalk. This is the visitor center for the European Parliament,…
3. European Parliament
The European Parliament building features a massive, curved glass facade that faces the Place du Luxembourg. It houses the debating chamber where hundreds of elected representatives from across the continent meet to vote on legislation.…
4. Leopold Park
The iron fence of Leopold Park encloses a collection of nineteenth century buildings that once formed a private zoo. In eighteen fifty, the Royal Zoological Society of Brussels opened a collection of animals here, complete with a bear pit…
5. House of European History
The House of European History sits inside a restored nineteen-twenties dental clinic, identifiable by its gleaming glass rooftop addition that juts above the original stone structure. It operates as a museum dedicated to the turbulent…
6. Europa building
The Europa building stands out because of its roof, a vast lantern-shaped structure wrapped in a web of three thousand reclaimed oak window frames. Inside this glass cube, European Union leaders meet to negotiate the politics of the…
7. Berlaymont
The Berlaymont building defines the Brussels skyline with its four jagged wings radiating from a central core like an enormous concrete star. This massive structure serves as the headquarters for the European Commission, housing the…
8. Arcade du Cinquantenaire
Three giant arches joined by a curved colonnade dominate the skyline of the Cinquantenaire Park. King Leopold the Second commissioned this monument to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Belgian independence. The construction took…