BRUSSELS (Fr. Bruxelles), the capital of Belgium, is situated on the small river Senne, a tributary of the Dyle, in lat. 50' 51' n., and long. 4° 21' cast. It communicates with Antwerp and the Baltic sea, by means of the Scheldt canal, and railways connect it with Germany, France, and Holland, as well as with all the principal towns of Belgium. The city is built partly on the side of a hill, and partly on a fertile plain; and though some of the streets are so steep that they can be ascended only by means of stairs, B., on the whole, may be pronounced one of the finest cities in Europe. The upper town, situated on the side of the hill, is the newest and most fashionable, and is the residence chiefly of the great and wealthy. The king's palace, public offices, chief hotels, and mansions of foreign ministers are here. It is also much more healthy than the lower town, which, stretching along the canal and the Senne, is greatly subject to fogs. But the latter, with its numerous handsome old buildings, formerly belonging to the Brabant nobility, but now occupied by merchants and traders, has a fine picturesque appearance, while some of its public edifices are unrivaled as specimens of Gothic architecture. This part has also several noble churches, but it is now wholly given over to trade. French is spoken in the upper part of B.; but in the lower, Flemish is prevalent, and in one quarter the Walloon dialect is spoken. The English language, owing to the large number of English who reside in B. for economy, is also very common. The walls which formerly surrounded B. have been removed, and their place is now occupied by pleasant boulevards, shaded by alleys of trees, extending several miles. The Allee Verte —a double avenue along the Scheldt canal—forms a splendid promenade, and leads towards the palace of Laeken, the suburban residence of the royal family, 3 m. n. of the city. Besides the fine park in the upper town, covering an area of some 17 acres, ornamented with fountains and statues, and surrounded by the king's palace, the "palace of the prince of Orange," the chamber of representatives, and other buildings, B. has several other squares or places, among which the most noteworthy are—the Place Royal, with its colossal monument of Godfrey of Bouillon; the Grand Place; in which is situated the Hotel de Ville, a splendid Gothic structure, erected in the begin ning of the 15th c., with a pyramidal tower 364 ft. high, surmounted by a statue of St. Michael, the patron saint of B., and where, in 1568, the patriot counts, Egmont and Horn, were beheaded by order of the duke of Alba; and the Place des Martyrs, where a memorial has beeu erected to those who fell here in the revolution of 1830. Among the churches of B., the largest and finest is the cathedral of St. Gudule, which dates from the 12th c., and is built in the pointed Gothic style, with two towers of more- modern date, rising on each side to a height of 264 ft., many richly painted windows, a pulpit, considered the masterpiece of Verbruggen, and monuments of the dukes of Brabant and other distinguished persons. In the Palais des Beaux Arts is the picture-gallery, con
taining the finest specimens of the Flemish school of painting; the public library, with its 234,000 volumes, and its 20,000 MSS., collected by the dukes of Burgundy—MSS. interesting and valuable not only for their contents, but for the beautiful miniature paintings with which the scholars of Van Eyck adorned them. The observatory is one of the finest in Europe. The educational establishments of B. are numerous, the princi pal being the free university, founded in 1834, with four•faculties—viz., law, medicine, mathematical and physical sciences, and belles-lettres, and having a special school of pharmacy attached. It has also numerous charitable and benevolent institutions; and is the seat of the provincial government of s. Brabant, as well as of the general govern ment of the kingdom. 13. is one of the chief centers of the industry of the country. Its lace is particularly famous. Of the esteemed carpets which pass under the name of B. carpets, only a few are manufactured here, most of those of Belgic make being produced at Tournai. It has also manufactures of damask, linen, ribbons, paper, jewelry, hats, soap, porcelain, mathematical and musical instruments, etc. Carriage-building is also an important branch of industry. Printing and lithographic establishments are numerous; and about a dozen newspapers, of which the Independence Beige has a European reputa tion, are published daily. Pop. in 1876, 161,816; with suburbs, 348,180.
As early as the 8th c., we find 13. (Bruchselta), then probably a villa of the Frank kings, mentioned in old chronicles, and that a church existed here in 966 is proved by a. deed of the emperor Otho I. Under Charles V., B. was made the court-residence in the Netherlands, and became afterwards, under Philip II., the chief arena of the revolution, and of the atrocities committed by the duke of Alba and the inquisition. B. suffered greatly in the war of Spain against Louis XIV.—in whose reign it was bombarded by marshal Villeroi, and upwards of 4000 buildings destroyed—and in that of Austria. against Louis XV.; but still more from the continual prevalence of party animosities caused by the policy of Austria. Under the mild rule of Maria Theresa, I3. flourished greatly, and in this time, many of its best institutions and public buildings were founded. In 1789 occurred the Brabant revolution under Joseph II., and scarcely had Austrian rule been re-established, after a brief time of independence, when 13. fell into the hands of the French, 1792. After other changes of fortune, 13., with the other parts of Bel gium, was incorporated with the kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815, and so remained until the revolution of 1830, by which it became the capital of the independent kingdom of Belgium.