Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/453

Rh some of the best remains of the old Gothic architecture, and is the seat of nearly all the trade and commerce of the town. The facilities for commerce are very consi derable. Though the Senne is not navigable itself, and is in fact now (1876) in process of being arched over to afford room for a new boulevard, it supplies water to some of the canals that intersect the lower portion of the city. By these canals Brussels communicates with the great Belgian cities, Mechlin, Ghent, Bruges, and Antwerp on the north, and Charleroi on the south. It further enjoys the advantage of railway communication with France and Germany, and the chief towns of the Belgian dominions. The streets are for the most part well paved, well lighted, and abundantly supplied with excellent water. There are in the town innumerable fountains, some of which are handsomely ornamented with sculptures in stone and bronze. Of these the best are Les Fontaines des Flcuves in the Hotel de Yille, La Fontaine de Minerve in one of the great squares, and the Mannekin-pis behind the Hotel de Ville. Some of the streets are macadamized, but the majority of them are causewayed, while the Irottoirs are either flagged or paved with flint-stones. In the new town some of the streets are remarkably handsome ; they contain a considerable number of shops and cafes similar to those of Paris, and form the chief promenades of the inhabi tants. In the old town they are for the most part narrow and sombre. There are fourteen squares in Brussels, many of which are used as market-places. Of theoe the largest are the Place du Grand Sablon, the Place Koyale, and the Grande Place before the Hotel de Ville. In the last- named square, surrounded for the most part with houses that date from the time of the Spanish possession, the Counts Egmont and Horn were beheaded in 15G8, by order of the duke of Alva, who surveyed the scene from the windows of the Brood-Huys (otherwise Maisondu Poi), a remarkable specimen of Gothic architecture still extant. In the Place de la Monnaie are the mint, the exchange, and the great theatre. In the Place des Martyrs, the heroes who fell in the Revolution of 1830 are interred. In front of the palace is the Public Park, a fashionable summer promenade, which covers an area of about 14 acres. It is beautifully laid out with walks, adorned at moderate dis tances with groups of sculpture ; and as it is planted with trees which shade it from the sun, the grass is always fresh and green. In the lower town is the Alice Vcrte, an equally fashionable promenade, which runs par allel with the Mechlin canal, having a triple row of linden trees on each side, and leads towards the village of I.acken, where, since 1815, the king has had a suburban castle. &amp;lt;*  

 Plan of Brussels.    Of the public buildings of Brussels the most remarkable are the cathedral church of St Michel et Ste Gudule, the Hotel de Ville, and the Palace of Justice, a modern erection. The cathedral was built in 1010, and in it was held the first chapter of the order of the Golden Fleece in 1535. It contains a remarkable pulpit, and some splendid specimens of stained glass. From its towers a fine view of the surrounding country may be obtained. The Hotel de Ville, built in 1400, is profusely ornamented; it has a tower 360 feet in height. The other public buildings of Brussels are for the most part handsome, lut are quite 