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144 Route 10. LAEKEN. Environs
21 ft. in depth (Suez Canal 230-360 ft. wide, 29-34 ft. deep; Bal-
tic Ship Canal 220 ft. wide, 28-30 ft. deep). There are three locks,
each 375 ft. in length and 52 ft. in width, beside which are smaller
locks for river-craft. When the canal is completed it will be avail-
able for sea-going vessels of moderate burden and Brussels will
stand in direct communication with the ports of Great Britain and
Holland.
The inner harbour (Bassin Vergote), betwecn the Allée Verte
(see below) on the E. and the Avenue du Port on the W., is about
the same size (9&5 yds. by 180 yds.) as the Bassin du Kattendyck in
Antwerp (p. 203). It is surrounded by broad quays (total length
over 4 M.) and is provided with six electric cranes. In the Avenue
du Port rises the large Entrepdt Public, completed in 1905, with
the goods-sheds, the dock office, the custom-house, and the spac-
ious goods-station (Gare Maritime). — A second harbour (Avant-
Port) is under construction below Lacken.
The Boulevard d’Anvers (Pl. C. D. 1) leads to two smaller docks
(Bassins de Batelage; Pl. C, 1), into which flows the Charleroi Canal,
constructed in 1532 to connect the capital with the coal-mining
and industrial district on the Sambre. On the left is the now aban-
doned Entrepét of the old harbour.
h. Environs of Brussels.
LAEKEN. —_Tramways. Nos. 46, 48, and 49 of the Tramw ays Bruxel-
lois (comp. p. 94), and the ‘Bourse- Gare Maritime-Laeken’ line of the
Chemins de Fer Economique p, 94). — Anoth route to Laeken is
offered by a line of the Chemins de Fer Vicinau which starts from the
square in front of the Gare du Nord (W. corner, Pl. D, 4), runs a'ong the
Boulevard dAnvers, and then either vid the Allee Verte (PI, ©, 4) or via
the Boulevard Léopold- Deux (Pl, C, B, 1) and the Boulevard du Jubilée,
to the stations of Lailerie du Heysel and Gros Tille ul, fo the W. and N.
respectively (f the Leopold Monument (p. 145; continuation of the line to
Grimberghen, etc., see p. 444).
Laeken is reached by the Allée Verte (1. C, 1), an avenue plant-
ed with lime-trees, which was formerly a fashionable promenade,
but is now only a business-centre for those connected with the har-
bour. Inthe 47th and 48th cent. this avenue was the pride of Brus-
sels and the scene of the state entries of the sovereigns, the last
occasion being the entry of King Leopold I. on July 19:h, 1834. At
the N. end of the inner harbour, where several streets conyerge, the
Allée Verte is carried across the canal by a lofty iron bridge ( Pent
de Laeken) affording a good survey of the harbour. The continuation
of the Allée Verte, the Avenue de la Reine, ends at the church of
St. Mary.
Laeken (Restaurant Dupéray, Av. de la Reine; Restaurant de
! Acacia, Dréve Ste. Anne 70), since the 19th cent. a favourite holi-
day and excursion resort of the people of Brussels, with 32,000 in-
hab., was the usual residence of Kings Leopold I. and 11., both of |
