Enjoy the city of Brussels

The capital of Europe is not far from the Netherlands. No, it is not Paris, Berlin or London, but Brussels, the city where the European Parliament is located.

This route takes you through the historic city and some of the neighboring boroughs. A varied tour, especially because each district has its own history and peculiarities.

You drive through Schaerbeek, which is also known as a donkey community. Many Schaarbeek cherries, a variant of the sour cherry, were once grown here. The inhabitants of Schaerbeek brought their ripe fruit on donkeys to the Brussels market to sell them to the producers of Kriek. They were mockingly welcomed with the remark that the donkeys of Schaerbeek were coming. The story goes that at one point there were even as many donkeys as people living in Schaerbeek.

In Koekelberg you will pass one of the sights on your route, the unmissable National Basilica of the Sacred Heart. This basilica was built between 1905 and 1970 and is a Belgian monument. It is the largest Art Deco style church in the world and can seat 3,500 people. Although the church is also called the Basilica of Koekelberg, this is factually incorrect: half of the church is located on the territory of the adjacent sub-municipality of Ganshoren.

A little further on, the Castle of Groot-Bijgaarden is on your route. The first lord of Bijgaarden, Almaric Bigard, ordered the construction of the castle in the twelfth century. The castle is built in Flemish Renaissance style and is surrounded by a moat. The central part of the gatehouse dates from the fourteenth century. Next to this gatehouse is a tower of thirty meters high from 1347. After the castle had fallen into disrepair, a thirty-year renovation began in 1902 under the influence of Raymond Pelgrims de Bigard. A castle garden surrounds the park and is opened every spring for an international flower exhibition.

In the municipality of Dilbeek you will pass the Castle of Viron, which was built in 1862. The castle has 12 towers, 52 rooms, 365 windows and 7 staircases. According to tradition, these numbers refer to the division of our calendar. Since 1923, the municipality has been housed in the castle. Behind the castle is the Sint-Alenator, a remnant of the thirteenth-century castle that was demolished in 1862. According to legend, the story of the Frankish king Levold and his daughter Alena is tied to this tower. Alena stood up for the rights of the believers oppressed by her father in the seventh century. She had to pay for this with her life and was later proclaimed a martyr. Alena is the patron saint of Dilbeek.

In Anderlecht you will pass the Erasmus House Museum, a building from 1515. You can visit four period rooms, each with its own theme. During the restoration in 1988, a modern part was added to the building. Outside you can discover the Garden of Diseases and the Philosophical Garden. You will also find the Begijnhof Museum here. This is the smallest beguinage in Belgium, where only eight beguines used to live. The buildings consist of two wings from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and two Gothic churches from the fourteenth century are located on the courtyard. The museum was founded in 1930, but the beguinage itself dates back to 1252.