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124 Route 10. BRUSSELS. Upper Boulevards:
named after the astronomer of that name (see below). The structure
in the gardens was formerly an observatory. On the right, farther
on, lies the circular PLacs prs Barrioapss (Pl. F, 2), with a bronze
statue of the anatomist Andreas Vesalius, by Jos. Geefs (1847).
Vesalius, the court-physician of Charles V. and the founder of modern
anatomy, was born at Brussels in 1514. His parents were natives of
Wesel, of which the name Vesalius is a Latinized form. He was con-
demned to the stake as a sorcerer by the Inquisition, but this penalty
was commuted into a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. On his way back he was
wrecked on the coast of Zante, where he died in 1564.
Opposite is a Monumental Fountain, commemorating the con-
struction of the Brussels waterworks in 1899, which supply the
city from the springs in the Vallée du Bocq (p. 225); hence the
bronze group of a man overcoming a goat. — A little to the S.W..,
in the Place de la Liberté (Pl. E, F, 3), is a bronze statue, by G.
de Groot (1897), of Charles Rogier (1800-85), the statesman, who
was a member of the Provisional Government in 1830.
Farther on, beyond the Place Madou and the former Porte de
Louvain, begins the bustling Bounzvarp pu R¢ (PI. E, F, 3-5),
which is soon intersected by the Rue de la Loi(p. 100) and leads on
between the fashionable quarters near the Park on the right and the
Quartier Léopold (p. 125) on the left. The E. side of this Boulevard
is known as the Avenue des Arts. The Rue Guimard leads thence
to the Place Frére-Orban (p. 125). On the W. side of the Boulevard
tises the —
Palais des Académies (Pl. HE, 4), the principal facade of which
fronts the Park (p. 100), This elegant building, designed by Ch.
van der Straeten, was erected in 1823-29 at the national expense
for the Prince of Orange, afterwards King William IJ. of Holland
(d. 1849). Since 1842 it has been the property of the Belgian
government, and since 1877 it has been occupied by the Académie
Royale des Sciences, des Lettres, et des Beaux-Arts, and the Aca-
démie Royale de Médecine, both of which possess valuable libraries.
The Grande Salle on the first floor has been decorated by Slingeneyer
with twelve mural paintings from the history of Belgium.
The garden which surrounds the palace is adorned with sculptures.
In front of the palace is a marble statue of Quetelet (Pl. E, 4), the astro-
nomer and statistician (1796-1874), by C. A. Fraikin (1880); on the N. side
is a bust of the chemist J. S$. Stas (4813-91); and next the Boulevard du
Régent are bronze statues by W. Geefs (The Victor), Jehotte (Cain), and
Kessels (Discus-thrower).
The Boulevard du Régent ends, beyond the Place du Trone
(246 ft.; Pl. E, 5), at the Place de la Porte de Namur (Pl. E, 5), one
of the chief intersecting points of the tramway system (p. 93) and
at the end of the busy Rue de Namur(p. 100), In this Place rises
the monumental Fontaine de Brouckére, by H. Beyaert, with a bust
of M. de Brouckére, an able burgomaster of Brussels (d. 1866), by
Fiers, and a group of children (above) by P. L. d’Union.
In the handsome Bounsyarp DB WATERLOO (Pl. E-C, 5, 6), to
the left, rises the Eglise des Carmes (Pl. D, 6), beyond which, at |
