Ambiorix Square — Attraction in Brussels

When drawing up his plans for urban development, architect Gédéon Bordiau imagined a series of three squares connected to each other by a vast tree-lined avenue which would make use of the water coming from Schaerbeek and Woluwe. The project to create Avenue Palmer_ston/Palmerstonlaan and the squares of Ambiorix, Marguerite and Marie-Louise was born. Construction began in 1875. Square Marie-Louise/Maria-Louizasquare contains a large pond featuring a faux grotto with a rock that emits a jet of water up to 15 m high, without the need for a pump since there is sufficient pressure from the Maelbeek River at this sloping point! The ornamental pond replaces the old Saint-Josse pond in the Maelbeek Valley. The pond is surrounded by plants arranged in the English landscape style, including a number of remarkable trees such as a honey locust, white mulberry and a splendid plane tree. Enclosed by a hedgerow of trellised lime trees, Square Ambiorix/Ambiorixsquare and its geometric terraced spaces are more evocative of the French formal style. Here, all eyes converge on an incredible tulip tree. Also present are a tree of heaven, a Chinese catalpa and a red horse-chestnut. As for Avenue Palmerston/Palmerstonlaan, the double line of unpruned ball-shaped black locust trees forms a pretty view in this urbanised neighbourhood. Square Marguerite/Margaretasquare, with its pond encircled by a pergola, has been converted into a games and...

“Maison de Saint Cyr” The Saint Cyr house was designed by Gustave Strauven from Brussels, a pupil of Victor Horta with whom he completed the Eetvelde and Peuple houses. Strauven was only 21 years old and his father, Pierre Arnold Strauven, was a gardener. The young architect was very interested in the use of new technologies and collaborated in the magazine "La Gerge", of Art Nouveau decoration and architecture. The house is on the Ambiorix square in Brussels and was built between 1901 and 1903 as the home of the painter Georges de Saint Cyr. Its asymmetrical facade is only 4 meters wide and is also divided into 4 floors in height. It has an ornamentation in glass and wrought iron that is a fantasy, with unique details. Perhaps it was inspired by the gardens that his father tended and he would see as a child. Throughout the twentieth century it was considered excessive and extravagant and was even despised by some critics of Art Nouveau. To me it seems to be a masterpiece full of the strength, audacity and freedom of youth, talent and everything that surrounds that first flight after leaving the nest and starting...

Square Ambiorix is a public square and park in the Quartier des Squares district of Brussels. The park is well tended and has been design in the french style with a regular and rectangular shaped interspersed with paths laid out in geometric patterns over the well kept lawns, flower beds, fountains, sculptures and a playground.

The area is a well to do district and there are many fine buildings around the park, especially to the north and east. For Art Nouveau fans, there are mainly fine building built in this style including the Villa Germaine and Maison Saint-Cyr.

The park is away from the main tourist circuit in Brussels, but worth visiting if you...