Palace of Laeken
The Palace of Laeken or Castle of Laeken[2][3] (French: Château de Laeken; Dutch: Kasteel van Laken; German: Schloss zu Laeken) is the official residence of the King of the Belgians and the Belgian royal family. It lies in the Brussels-Capital Region, 5 km (3 mi) north of the city centre, in Laeken (part of the City of Brussels), and sits in a large private park called the Royal Domain of Laeken.
Palace of Laeken
Palace of Schonenberg
Castle of Laeken
Avenue du Parc Royal / Koninklijk Parklaan
1020 Laeken, City of Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region
Belgium
1782
1909
Metro: Stuyvenbergh (line 6)
The palace was built between 1782 and 1784 for the Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands, and was originally named the Palace of Schonenberg.[2] It was partly destroyed by fire in 1890, after which it was rebuilt and extended. Significant modifications were undertaken at the beginning of the 20th century during the reign of King Leopold II. Nowadays, it is often referred to as the Royal Palace of Laeken or Royal Castle of Laeken.[3]
The Palace of Laeken should not be confused with the Royal Palace of Brussels, in central Brussels, which is the official palace (not residence) of the King of the Belgians and from which state affairs are handled. It is served by Stuyvenbergh metro station on line 6 of the Brussels Metro.
History[edit]
Origins (c. 1782–1830)[edit]
The palace was built between 1782 and 1784 in Laeken, then a rural village outside Brussels, after the plans of the French architect and urbanist Charles de Wailly, under supervision of the Belgian-Austrian architect Louis Montoyer. It was originally named the Palace of Schonenberg (French: Château de Schonenberg, Dutch: Kasteel van Schonenberg) and was to serve as a summer residence for the Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands, Duchess Maria Christina of Austria and her husband Prince Albrecht of Saxony-Teschen.[2] The French cabinetmaker Jean-Joseph Chapuis provided the royal furniture.
On 21 July 1803, Nicolas-Jean Rouppe, the commissioner of the department of the Dyle, received Napoleon at the Palace of Laeken. Napoleon stayed there with the Empress Josephine in August 1804 on his way from awarding the first Légion d'honneur to his troops at Boulogne, to his progress along the Rhine, and later, during the Hundred Days in 1815, prematurely made this proclamation from the palace:
Main facade of the Palace of Laeken
The Great Lawn of the Royal Domain
The Royal Domain of Laeken is extensive, about 460 acres (190 ha), or slightly smaller than Monaco.[5] The gardens are surrounded by walls and iron gates,[5] and are closed to the public, although there have been calls for the king to open at least a portion of the park for public use amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium.[5]
The gardens of the Royal Domain are landscaped in English style; the vast park includes lakes, a golf course and artworks. King Leopold II was very closely connected with the designs of his private gardens. It is in these gardens that his only son, Prince Leopold, Duke of Brabant, fell in a pond, and died subsequently from pneumonia, aged only nine. The king had trees planted for his new-born children, which still stand in the park.
There are various pavilions, including the Chinese Pavilion and the Japanese Tower. They were commissioned by Leopold II and now form part of the Museums of the Far East. The rooms of the Chinese Pavilion are designed in chinoiserie Louis XIV and Louis XVI styles. They are decorated with Chinese motifs, chinaware and silverware. The Japanese Tower is a pagoda, inspired by a construction Leopold saw at the Paris Exposition of 1900. Leopold thus asked his architect Alexandre Marcel to build him a similar one in Laeken.
In the gardens live several colonies of wild Canada geese, hundreds of cormorants and other large birds. The gardens are also home to one of the biggest colonies of herons in the country.[6]
Under the dome of the Winter Garden
Interior of the Embarcadère Greenhouse
The Royal Greenhouses of Laeken are located within the Royal Domain and are attached to the palace via the orangery. They were commissioned by King Leopold II, originally designed by Alphonse Balat, and built between 1874 and 1905. Following Balat's death in 1895, Leopold called upon the architects Henri Maquet and Charles Girault. The total floor area of this immense complex is 2.5 ha (6.2 acres). The main greenhouses, such as the Congo Greenhouse and the so-called Iron Church, a domed greenhouse, which would originally serve as the royal chapel, are all linked by flowered corridors spanning hundreds of meters.
The complex is home to the famous Royal Botanic Collection, which includes large collections of camellias, orange trees and many plants originating from the African parts of the former Belgian Empire. Many sculptures and Chinese vases can also be found within the greenhouses.
Influence[edit]
Mobutu Sese Seko, the dictator of Zaire (the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo), built a palace in his hometown of Gbadolite modelled upon the Royal Palace of Laeken.[7]
