Heritage brochure - The Botanic Garden

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the botanic garden, cultural oasis

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rigin and development

The Botanic Garden, beautiful patch of greenery stuck right in the middle of an all too busy urban maze, lures you inside into its imposing greenhouse, remaining evidence, if need be, of what it was erstwhile assigned for.

Today, cultural centre of the French Community of Belgium, the Botanique — also nicknamed “Bota” by habitués — has not seen the light of day on Rue Royale. A first botanical garden, or “Hortus Botanicus” as it was called back then, is established since the end of the 18th century at the Court of Nassau, a building belonging to the former princely court, and in its garden — that stretched roughly to the current location of Place du Musée and a part of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts.

In 1826, major town planning projects — demolition of the city’s defensive walls, which the garden backs onto — threaten its very existence. During the short-lived Dutch rule, five passionate and influential Brussels residents (a botanist, a vicar, a man of private means and two barons) found the Royal Horticultural Society of the Netherlands, and initiate the building of a brand-new botanic garden, this time on the edge of town.

Back then, Saint-Josseten-Noode is a picturesque village and it is there, just behind the former gate of Schaerbeek, that the society buys an impressive 6 hectares of waste land, hemmed in by Rue Royale and what is now Place Rogier. Part of this piece of land was allocated to the “Garden of the plague-stricken”, directly next to old “houses” bearing the same name! Our current Place Rogier was indeed nothing more than an enclosure for plague victims, understandably relegated outside the city walls and consisting of small hovels, a chapel, a cemetery and hence, a plot of land. Originally, the area is made of gentle wooded hills and is well provided in water through the deployment of a water supply system from the Senne (which runs down under, alongside Boulevard du Jardin Botanique). Looking over the valley, the terrain offers a stunning downtown view. The gardens, the plans of which are drawn up by architect Charles-Henri Petersen, and the buildings — designed by Gineste, who mainly draws his inspiration from the project submitted for appraisal earlier by Suys, under the overall aegis of Meeus — are inaugurated with great pomp and circumstance on 1 September 1829.

As extensively reported by the press of the time, the grand opening is celebrated three days in a row, including fireworks, a “countryside” festival and a lavish and more than commonly well-lubricated banquet!

The former magnificence and stateliness of the building is no mere coincidence: let us not forget that back then travelling was only available to the most privileged members of society. The Botanic Garden and places of such interest enabled people from all walks of life to discover a world far away and the beauty of native and exotic plants.

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rchitecture and decor

The building displays a neoclassic south-facing façade and is composed of a central rotunda with a dome (heated greenhouse, reception hall and administrative offices, accessible via Rue Botanique), and two long side-aisle greenhouses ended by two slightly raised pavilions.

The natural slope makes it possible to construct several terraces with each their own style: the highest terrace in French style, the intermediate level in Italian style (even if this terrace is only built at a later stage) and the lower part gently sloping towards the ponds and the water tank, in English style. The large pond in the lower area of the garden is the remnant of a ditch filled with water, protecting the “Queen’s Bastion”, one of the elements of Brussels’ second battlements.

The domain also shelters “schools”, or more aptly put, pedagogical cultivation areas.

“Brussels possesses two unique wonders of the world, its Grand-Place and the panorama of the Botanical Garden.” Victor Hugo The park houses sculptures to both beautify the park and develop Belgium’s public art and artists: fifty-two sculptures are commissioned between 1894 and 1898 – representing time, the four seasons, plants and animals. The way they are currently displayed bears no comparison with the original layout. Some of the works relocated to the new botanical garden in Meise (still existing today), others simply disappeared over time.

Nowadays, the Botanic Garden still houses 30 of the 52 bronze sculptures that decorated it at the end of the 19th century. The site — including building and gardens — being listed since 1964, the outside of the building will be preserved, intact. Inside, the specificity of each room will be respected in line with the requirements of a renovation programme.

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ours and detours

However, within a fairly short period of time, a shambles of financial problems forces the management to privilege the commerce of plants, at the expense of its educational vocation, but, according to legend, to the benefit of the most Belgian of all vegetables: chicory (commonly known in Belgium as “chicon” in French or “witloof” in Dutch, meaning “white leaf”). Its roots are left to develop in the absence of light and approximately a month later produce immaculate white and indeed not green, fleshy leaves! Legend has it that at the end of the Belgian War of Independence in 1830, a Brussels farmer returned to his farm in the Josaphat valley of Schaerbeek. While he was away, he had stored chicory roots in his cellar under a thin layer of soil with the intent to dry and roast them and use them as

a coffee substitute. But his chicory roots, resting for weeks in the dark, damp environment, had sprouted small white leaves!

At the same time, in the cellars of the Botanic Garden, student gardeners experiment different cultivation techniques in a dark environment, mainly for mushrooms.

Franciscus Bresiers, head gardener at the Botanic Garden, gets wind of the farmer’s story and without any further ado, walks off with the idea. He then spends many years experimenting in the cellars of the Botanic Garden, steadily refining the cultivation techniques of the chicory roots (cichorium in Latin). Until eventually, his dedication pays off and he ends up growing the chicory as we know it today!

Besides its distinctive and rather unique taste, chicory is very easy to grow in cellars and is available during the winter season, which largely explains why it meets with immediate success. The first chicories appear on the Brussels markets in 1867, and twelve years later the first crate of “endives de Bruxelles” is sold in the Halles de Paris. After WWII, chicory becomes popular world-wide and nowadays, it is exported as a luxurious commodity to the United States and even Japan! This story however should not blind us to an altogether grimmer reality: overall, harsh times and setbacks appear to be the hallmark of the Botanic Garden’s first years of existence. Already in 1841, a large section of the lower garden is sold for the construction of the Brussels North railway station and of Place de Cologne (the current Place Rogier).

The Leopold park, nestled in the very heart of the European district, alongside Rue Belliard, plays a tiny role in the botanic history in Brussels. Handed over to the “Société Royale de Zoologie, d’Horticulture et d’Agrément”, the society converts the estate in a zoological park, also including a skating rink, exotic animals and horticultural greenhouses. Balat, the famous architect who designed the Laeken Greenhouses, builds a small greenhouse (that still bears his name today) to house the Victoria Amazonica, a giant water lily species from Amazonia. Hanging by a thread, the Botanic Garden complex sails on troubled waters under the management of the Royal Horticultural Society of Belgium... until thankfully in 1870 the Belgian State acquires both grounds and building. For a while at least, this would guarantee the panorama, scientific vocation and public esplanade of the Botanic Garden. This was its golden age and would go on for a good 50 years. The place is held dear by most of Brussels’ residents for daily walks and festive events (such as musical concerts, celebrations of national importance — commemorating for instance the September Days —, or as the starting point for Nadar balloon expeditions). New town planning developments, relating to the economic revival during the inter-war years, do not bode well for the Botanic Garden.

In 1935, the site just barely escapes outright demolition: the garden is significantly modified in the lower section due to the creation of a North-South train junction. In 1939, the Botanic Garden as such is forced to immigrate and settles in Meise’s Bouchout domain (good for 93 hectares of land!) while the war already rages at the doors of Belgium. The plants of the outdoor collection, trees, shrubs and the large greenhouse make the move. After the Second World War, the development of the ring and the building of Boulevard Saint-Lazare even slice the gardens in their midst. Still, this is not the deathblow. In 1979, the French Community of Belgium takes over the place. The good old Botanic Garden has another lifespan... one that is completely different to say the least since the goal is to transform it into a concert hall. Inaugurated 5 years later, on 24 January 1984, the cultural centre of the Botanique forthwith emerges as a unique platform for interaction and encounters, open to artists from Brussels, Wallonia and elsewhere. Right from the start, priority is given to diversity: visual and plastic arts, theatre, music, film and dance.

With such a plethora of activities, the Botanique has unfortunately bitten off more than it can chew and has no other choice than to take it down a notch: music and graphic arts will come first! In parallel, the Botanique embarks on joint productions and collaborations with specialized partners.

www.visit.brussels copyright: Archives de la Ville de Bruxelles