Leopold Quarter
| |
|---|---|
Neighbourhood | |
 Aerial view of the European Quarter (including parts of the Leopold Quarter) | |
  Leopold Quarter Location within Brussels   Leopold Quarter Leopold Quarter (Belgium) | |
| Coordinates: 50°50′20″N 4°22′12″E / 50.83889°N 4.37000°E | |
| Country | Belgium |
| Region | Brussels-Capital Region |
| Municipality | |
| Named for | King Leopold I |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 1000, 1040, 1050, 1210 |
| Area codes | 02 |
The Leopold Quarter (French: Quartier Léopold; Dutch: ) is a quarter of Brussels, Belgium. Today, the term is sometimes confused with the European Quarter, as the area has come to be dominated by the institutions of the European Union (EU) and organisations dealing with them, although the two terms are not in fact the same, with the Leopold Quarter being a smaller more specific district of the municipalities of the City of Brussels, Etterbeek, Ixelles and Saint-Josse-ten-Noode.[1]
The Leopold Quarter traditionally encompassed the area immediately south of the Small Ring (Brussels' inner ring road), between the Namur Gate and Louvain Gate. Today, it lies roughly between the ring road, Leopold Park, the Rue Joseph II/Jozef II-Straat, and the Rue du Trône/Troonstraat.[2] The district was created in 1837, soon after Belgian independence, as a prestigious residential area for the elite of the new Belgian capital, and was named after King Leopold I.[3] It remained the most prestigious residential address in the capital until the early 20th century when many of its former residents began to relocate to the city's newly developing suburbs.[4] Starting at that time, but accelerating rapidly only after the 1950s, it increasingly became a business/institutional area and is today dominated by the EU's facilities.
The quarter contains the European Parliament (with its complex of parliament buildings known as the Espace Léopold) and other EU offices.[5] It is also a major financial district of Brussels. Brussels-Luxembourg railway station was formerly known as Leopold Quarter railway station before undergoing major rebuilding.[6]
- ^ Dickinson, R.E. (1998). The West European City: A Geographical Interpretation. International library of sociology and social reconstruction. Routledge. p. 154. ISBN 978-0-415-17711-5.
- ^ Demey, p. 30
- ^ Moulaert, F.; Rodriguez, A.; Swyngedouw, E. (2003). The Globalized City: Economic Restructuring and Social Polarization in European Cities. Oxford Geographical and Environmental Studies Series. OUP Oxford. p. 129. ISBN 978-0-19-155552-7.
- ^ Demey, Thierry (2007). Brussels, capital of Europe. Brussels: Badeaux.
- ^ de Groof, R. (2009). Brussels and Europe: Acta of the International Colloquium on Brussels and Europe, Held in the Albert Borschette Conference Centre in Brussels, on 18 and 19 December 2009. ASP. p. 133. ISBN 978-90-5487-529-1.
- ^ Travel Brussels, Belgium, Google Books