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132 Route 10. BRUSSELS. Lower Town:
boulevards. The figure of a nymph beneath a vaulted arch refers to
the vaulting over of the Senne; the effective bronze figures re-
presenting Brussels and its Government are by Jul. Dillens; the
gilded bronze Archangel Michael on the top is by P. Braecke.
No. 15 in the Rue des Augnstins (Pl. D, 2), to the W., is the Musée
Commercial de l’Etat, or Ryks- Handels- Museum, instituted in 1880, con-
taining collections of commercial samples and an office for information
(adm., see p. 96). — The pediment-group of the Alhambra Theatre, in the
Boul. de la Senne, is by Ch. van der Stappen.
The S. continuation of the two boulevards just mentioned, the
BouLnvarp ANspacH (Pl. 0, D, 3), is one of the centres of public
life in Brussels.
The Exchange (Bourse de Commerce; Pl. G6, 3), built in 1873
from designs by the younger Suys, is a brilliant illustration of the
influence of French ideas on the Belgian architecture of that period.
The principal fagade is embellished with a Corinthian colonnade,
to which a broad flight of steps ascends, and with elaborate sculp-
ture by Carrier-Belleuse. The allegorical groups and the relief
in the tympanum (Belgium with Commerce and Industry) are by
J. Jaquet. The principal hall, unlike that of most buildings of the
kind, is cruciform (140 ft. by 120 ft.), and covered with a low dome
(about 150 ft. high) in the centre. It is best viewed from the gallery
(adm., see p. 96; entr. for strangers in the rear), — Opposite the
Exchange is a marble bust of Auguste Oris, the jurist and statesman.
A little to the S.W., in the Place St. Géry (Pl. ©, 3; comp. p. 97),
is a Market, in the Flemish style. It contains a Renaissance fountain
from the Abbey of Grimberghen (p. 145).
In the Bounnvarp pu Hatnaut (Hennegauwlaan), to the right,
is the Place Anneessens (Pl. 0, 4), with the monument of the civic
hero Frans Anneessens (p. 128), by Vingotte, erected in 1889. Behind
is a School in the Flemish style, by F. Janlet. — The Rue de Tournai,
diverging here to the S.H., leads to the Place Rouppe (P1. ©, 4), in
which a monumental fountain, by Fraikin, commemorates Burgo-
master Rouppe (d. 1838). This square is the starting-point of the
Chemin de Fer Vicinal to the Bois de la Cambre and the Forest of
Soignes (pp. 142, 147). A little to the N.E., in the Rue du Midi,
is the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts (Pl. ©, 4), founded in 1744,
reorganized in 1800, and transferred to its present site in 1877.
__ Between the Boul. du Hainaut and the broad Avenue du Midi
(Zuider-Dreef), a parallel street also ending at the Boul. du Midi, is
the long and narrow Palais du Midi (Pl. B, 6, 4, 5), containing
shops, the municipal laboratory, and an industrial school.
In the W. Parr or raz Lower Town, near the Boulevard
Anspach, are the Halles Centrales (Pl. C, 3), a covered provision-
market erected in 1874. The N. wing, after a fire in 1894, was con-
verted into the Palnis d’Eté (p. 95).
The Church of St, Catharine (Pl. C, 2), rebuilt by J. Poelaert, |