Marollen
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
(Difference between revisions)
| Revision as of 11:17, 22 August 2017 Jahsonic (Talk | contribs) ← Previous diff |
Current revision Jahsonic (Talk | contribs) |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| {{Template}} | {{Template}} | ||
| + | The '''Marolles''' ([[French language|French]]) or '''Marollen''' ([[Dutch language|Dutch]]) is an old neighbourhood of [[Brussels]], situated between the [[Law Courts of Brussels|Palace of Justice]] and the [[Brussels-South railway station|south railway station]]. In the heart of Marollen can be found the [[Église de la Chapelle]]/[[Kapellekerk]] and the [[Place du Jeu de balle]]/[[Vossenplein]]. Major arteries of the neighborhood include the rue Haute/Hoogstraat, the rue [[Blaesstraat]] and the rue des Tanneurs/Huidevetterstraat. Inhabitants of the neighbourhood are called ''Marolliens''. The dialect known as [[Marols]] (''marollien'') was spoken in this area. | ||
| - | The '''Law Courts of Brussels''' or '''Brussels Palace of Justice''' ([[Dutch language|Dutch]]: '''''Justitiepaleis van Brussel''''', [[French language|French]]: '''''Palais de justice de Bruxelles''''') is the most important Court building in [[Belgium]] and is a notable landmark of [[Brussels]]. It was built between [[1866]] and [[1883]] in the [[Eclecticism in art|eclectic style]] by architect [[Joseph Poelaert]]. The total cost of the construction, land and furnishings was somewhere in the region of 45 million [[Belgian franc]]s. It is believed to be the biggest secular building constructed in the 19th century. | + | The [[2006 Brussels riots]] began in this area. |
| - | + | ||
| - | == History == | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | === Inception === | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | In 1860, during the reign of [[Leopold I of Belgium|Leopold I]], a Royal decree announced the building of the Palace of Justice and an international architecture contest was organised for its design. The designs entered in the contest were found to be unacceptable and were thus rejected. The then minister of justice Tesch appointed Joseph Poelaert to design the building in 1861. The first stone was laid on October 31, 1866, and the building was inaugurated on October 15, 1883, four years after Poelaert's death in 1879. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | For the building of the Palace of Justice, a section of the [[Marollen]] neighbourhood was demolished, while most of the park belonging to the [[House of Mérode]] was also expropriated. The 75 landlord owners of the houses, many of whom lived in their homes, received large indemnities, while the other inhabitants, about a hundred, were also forced to move by the Belgian government, though they were compensated with houses in the [[Garden city movement|garden city]] "Tillens-Roosendael" ({{lang-fr|cité-jardin Tillens-Roosendael}}) in the municipality of [[Uccle]], in the ''Quartier du Chat''. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | Poelaert himself lived in the Marollen neighbourhood in a house only a few hundred metres from the building, a house adjoining his vast offices and workshops. It is thus unlikely he saw himself as ruining the neighbourhood. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | As a result of the forced relocation of so many people, the word ''architect'' became one of the most serious insults in Brussels. | + | |
| - | The Palace's location is on the ''Galgenberg'' hill, where in the [[Middle Ages]] convicted criminals were hanged. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | The building includes huge interior statues of [[Demosthenes]] and [[Lycurgus of Sparta|Lycurgus]], by sculptor [[Pierre Armand Cattier]], and figures of Roman jurists [[Cicero]] and [[Ulpian]], by [[Antoine-Félix Bouré]]. Although the construction took place during the reign of [[Leopold II of Belgium|Léopold II]], he showed little interest in the building, and it's not considered part of his extensive architectural program in Brussels or his legacy as the "Builder-King". | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | === Renovation === | + | |
| - | At the end of the [[Second World War]], on the eve of the liberation of Brussels, the retreating Germans started a fire in the Palace of Justice in order to destroy it. As a result, the cupola collapsed and part of the building was heavily damaged. By 1947 most of the building was repaired and the cupola was rebuilt two and a half metres higher than the original. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | Starting in 2003, renovations have begun on the building. These renovations pertain to the repair and strengthening of the roof structure and the walls as well as putting a new layer on the gilded cupola. Progress is slow, and in 2013, it was reported that the decade-old [[scaffolding]] was so rusted and unsafe that the scaffolding itself was in need of renovation. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | == Dimensions == | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | The Brussels Palace of Justice is bigger than [[St. Peter's Basilica]] in [[Rome]]. The building is currently 160 by 150 meters, and has a total built ground surface of 26,000 m². The 104 meter high dome weighs 24,000 tons. The building has 8 courtyards with a surface of 6000 m², 27 large court rooms and 245 smaller court rooms and other rooms. Situated on a hill, there is a level difference of 20 meters between the upper and lower town, which results in multiple entrances to the building at different levels. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | == Influence == | + | |
| - | There is a well-known story that [[Adolf Hitler]] was reportedly fond of the building. Albert Speer stated in his book Inside the Third Reich that he had been dispatched to Brussels in 1940 to study the building. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | Although lacking the dome and being much smaller, the [[Palace of Justice (Peru)|Justice Palace]] in [[Lima]] in [[Peru]], which houses the [[Supreme Court of Peru]], is based upon the Brussels Palace of Justice. | + | |
| {{GFDL}} | {{GFDL}} | ||
Current revision
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
The Marolles (French) or Marollen (Dutch) is an old neighbourhood of Brussels, situated between the Palace of Justice and the south railway station. In the heart of Marollen can be found the Église de la Chapelle/Kapellekerk and the Place du Jeu de balle/Vossenplein. Major arteries of the neighborhood include the rue Haute/Hoogstraat, the rue Blaesstraat and the rue des Tanneurs/Huidevetterstraat. Inhabitants of the neighbourhood are called Marolliens. The dialect known as Marols (marollien) was spoken in this area.
The 2006 Brussels riots began in this area.
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Marollen" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
