Introduction
Following the route through Brussels, I am going to finish with one of the most beautiful and classic areas of the city, the Cinquantenaire Palace and its respective park, which is where it is located. The Cinquantenaire Palace is one of the architectual symbols of the Belgian Capital, although it does not reach the importance of the Grand Place or the Atomium, it would be a secondary symbol.
The Cinquantenaire Palace
The Cinquantenaire Palace was inaugurated in 1880 for the celebration of an international festival that commemorates the 50 year anniversary of the establishment of Belgium as an independent nation. It seems very curious to me that buildings are so beautiful and relevant nowadays, in the beginning there were only claims of an exhibition like this, or like the Eiffel Tower or the Atomium. I don't imagine that, with the idea of destroying the creations afterwards, the people would have been working so hard to build them.
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The Palace is built in a U shape, in the centre of which a triumphal arch is highlighted. On each side of this arch, there are huge wings.
The triumphal arch here really reminds me of the Brandenburg Door in Berlin, of which I have spoken about a couple of months ago in another publication. Both of the two arches have a quadriga (a chariot of Gods and heroes), with the one on the Cinquantenaire Palace being made of bronze, but painted in the colour green and called the "Brabante Quadriga". It is a type of sculpture that represents a carriage being pulled by horses in line. It was what the war Generals rode in on after entering the city victorious from having won a battle.
The real triumphal arch is not the one that was used during the 50 years anniversary exhibition, as it was replaced in 1905.
The Cinquantenaire Palacehas structures made of rock, iron and glass. According to what is said, these structures represent the economic and industrial efficiency of Belgium. Furthermore, this Palace is actually home to three museums:
1. The Cinquantenaire Museum:
This museum is dedicated to the history of the evolution of mankind and the great civilisations of the world. We didn't enter this museum because there was an entrance fee of 5 euros for adults, or 4 euros with a student card. We also only had one and a half days to explore the entirety of Brussels. However, I wanted to enter, especially to see the area dedicated to the Egyptian and Roman civilisations which, in my opinion, are super interesting.
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2. The Military History Museum:
This museum is free and is focused around the history of the Belgian Army from the year 1700 to the present day. It is home to many great collections, ranging from amour, weapons and equipment that they used for transport, to many other interesting things as well.
3. Autoworld:
This is a large car exhibition in which they have cars of all styles, sizes and eras.
On the outskirts of the Palace there were many tourists and red flowers in the beautiful green spaces that I really loved and that, without a doubt, added a touch of colour to liven up the panorama.
The Cinquantenaire Park
The Cinquantenaire Park is the second most important park in Brussels (I don't know if the first is Brupark or the Park of Brussels, but all of them are very nice). It is located relatively close to the European Parliament building, which means that it is common for the workers from the European Institutions to come to the park in their free time.
If you look at the park on a map, it is shaped in the form of a thick pencil, like a rectangle. One of the sides ends in a point and there is more than 30 hectares of land representing the typical classical garden style with a lot of open space only with green areas. There are also statues in the garden, like the green dog and one with a type of mini castle. There it is in the next photo, I personally love it as it is like a little fairy-tale dwarf's house. A part from the Cinquantenaire Palace, there is another building located in the park, the Islamic Cultural Centre of Belgium.
This park is a haven of peace cut off from the hustle and bustle of the Belgium capital, which is always plagued with so many people. To me, the park seems like an invitation for relaxation and enjoyment. In my opinion, it is like the lung of Belgium as, although the Park of Brussels is visited more, this is better for those who actually seek green areas within the capital. It is quite big, but only with a small amount of elements within it. Sometimes it seems like a large green esplanade that makes you suddenly want to start running and jumping around in. However, this can also make it hard to keep walking through such a monotonous area, which is what happened to me in the end.
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How to get here
This place is a little cut off from the historic centre of the city. We were walking from the Grand Palace and we went through the Royal Palace, the Park of Brussels and the European Parliament building. We had to walk quite a lot, so I would recommend you take public transport. The best way to get to the Cinquantenaire Park is to catch the metro, bus or tram. On the metro, the stop is called "Schuman and Mérode" in the lines 1 and 5. On the tram the closest stop is called "Place Saint Pierre" on the lines 81 and 83. To finish, the bus route stops at the station "Gaulois" and you can use the lines 22, 27 and 80 to get there, or to the station called "Mérode" on line 61. You will be able to find the Cinquantenaire Palace without any problems as it is huge and you can see it from practically anywhere in the park.
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