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Park Life: a guide to Brussels' finest parks

14:30 19/07/2014

Brussels may be one of the greenest cities in Europe, but its parks and gardens are sometimes well hidden. These are some of our favourites.

Tournay-Solvay

Parc Tournay-Solvay in Boitsfort is a secret place that most people drive straight past. It occupies a former country estate owned by Alfred Solvay, son of the industrialist Ernest. Alfred built a romantic castle in 1882, and in 1911 added a rose garden designed by Jules Buyssens, who incorporated abandoned medieval gravestones as paving stones. The last owner was Alfred’s daughter Therese, who died childless in 1972. Chemical giant UCB tried to build offices in the park, but the city fought off the developers and bought the estate in 1980. The castle was gutted by fire in 1982, but the grounds have been well maintained and now house the Brussels Region’s ecology centre.

Tenbosch

Some years ago, a scrap of wasteland off Rue Tenbosch was turned into an idyllic little park with almost everything a city-dweller might want, including a playground, boules court, sandpit, football field, pond with turtles and even a stray colony of monk parakeets nesting in the trees.

David & Alice Van Buuren

Created by a Dutch banker in the 1920s and now a pro¬tected monument, this gar¬den was initially landscaped in a formal style by Jules Buyssens. The landscaping became more fanciful in the 1960s when René Pechère added ponds, an artificial stream, a circle of hedges planted in the shape of hearts and a circular maze.

Erasmus

Planted in the 1930s, the garden of the Erasmus House had become a bit overgrown by the 1980s, when René Pechère was called in to come up with a new design. The landscape gardener couldn’t find any illustrations of the original garden and decided to invent a new medieval garden in a style that Erasmus might have seen when he stayed in Anderlecht in 1521. The main inspiration came from a formal walled garden in a painting by Dirk Bouts in the Fine Arts Museum.

Uccle’s parks

The commune of Uccle has some of the most secret green spaces in the city, known only to a handful of residents. The little country lane called Chemin de Crabeggat is one of the most appealing urban rambles in the city, leading from the busy Avenue de Fré into deep woodland. But this commune sometimes neglects its green assets, as with the Parc de Wolvendael, where the mini golf course is now totally overgrown.

Dieweg

The abandoned cemetery in Dieweg is perhaps the most remarkable green space in Brussels. The cemetery was closed several decades ago and the place was deliberately allowed to grow wild, creating a unique eco¬logical site that hosts a dozen varieties of ivy, 60 types of wild flower and several rare species of lichen. It’s one of the most romantic spots in the city, with crumbling tombstones gradually vanish¬ing under the rampant ivy.

La Cambre Abbey (pictured)

The terraces of these beautifully kept gardens surrounding the former Cistercian abbey, founded in the 12th century, make the ideal spot for a picnic or a short stroll, while down in the basin families and groups of friends gather to play boules and Frisbee. It’s such a peaceful spot that it’s easy to forget you’re a step away from the traffic of Avenue Louise and the bustle of the Ixelles ponds.

 
Written by Newcomer

Comments

gellis

It would have been nice (and made sense!) for the writer of this article to have included hyperlinks to a Google map of the locations of these 'must-see' parks.

Jul 31, 2014 13:37