Events - Urban Archeology Days

At the heart of the timber frames of the Saint-Nicolas church, Brussels

Saint-Nicolas church, rue au Beurre - Boterstraat, Brussels

Already cited in 1174, the church was built in the Romanesque style, with a forecourt and tower on the façade, until it was converted/reconstructed in the 14th century, giving it a Gothic style. It suffered…

Already cited in 1174, the church was built in the Romanesque style, with a forecourt and tower on the façade, until it was converted/reconstructed in the 14th century, giving it a Gothic style. It suffered a number of setbacks: the Wars of Religion at the end of the 16th century, fire following the bombardment of 1695 and the fall of its tower, rebuilt in 1714, the scars of which are most visible in the roof…

Already cited in 1174, the church was built in the Romanesque style, with a forecourt and tower on the façade, until it was converted/reconstructed in the 14th century, giving it a Gothic style. It suffered a number of setbacks: the Wars of Religion at the end of the 16th century, fire following the bombardment of 1695 and the fall of its tower, rebuilt in 1714, the scars of which are most visible in the roof space. A team of archaeologists and dendrochronologists will be (more…)

Coudenberg Palace : visit of the Lapidarium collection

Villa Hermosastraat 5 rue Villa Hermosa, 1000 Brussels

Coudenberg Palace is more than just an archaeological site or a museum: it is also home to a lesser-known lapidarium, kept in the museum's cellars. Usually, this collection of archaeological stones is only accessible to…

Coudenberg Palace is more than just an archaeological site or a museum: it is also home to a lesser-known lapidarium, kept in the museum's cellars. Usually, this collection of archaeological stones is only accessible to researchers. As part of the Urban Archaeology Days, this remarkable venue is exceptionally (more…)

Archaeological walk in the footsteps of the Senne

in front of the entrance to the STIB/MIVB Lemmonier station (at the intersection of Boulevard Lemmonier and Boulevard du Midi)

This walk will take you on a journey in the footsteps of the Senne river within the Pentagon, following recent archaeological excavations of urban.brussels, as well as older discoveries. The river may have disappeared from…

This walk will take you on a journey in the footsteps of the Senne river within the Pentagon, following recent archaeological excavations of urban.brussels, as well as older discoveries. The river may have disappeared from the urban landscape after its vaulting in the second half of the 19th century, but it nevertheless left a lasting mark on the city centre. A witness to a time when only mammoths and other prehistoric animals inhabited the valley,…

This walk will take you on a journey in the footsteps of the Senne river within the Pentagon, following recent archaeological excavations of urban.brussels, as well as older discoveries. The river may have disappeared from the urban landscape after its vaulting in the second half of the 19th century, but it nevertheless left a lasting mark on the city centre. A witness to a time when only mammoths and other prehistoric animals inhabited the valley, it would later become (more…)

The Abbey of Forest: looking back at the archaeological research carried out since 2017

Abbaye de Forest - Abdij van Vorst - place Saint-Denis-Sint-Denijsplein, 1190 Forest-Vorst

The Abbey of Forest - of which all that remains today is the 18th-century horseshoe-shaped main courtyard - has a long history and a rich heritage. The Benedictine nuns settled on the site at the…

The Abbey of Forest - of which all that remains today is the 18th-century horseshoe-shaped main courtyard - has a long history and a rich heritage. The Benedictine nuns settled on the site at the very beginning of the 12th century, initially in a priory under the supervision of Affligem Abbey. This became an independent abbey in 1239, and remained so until the end of the Ancien Régime, when the clergy's property was confiscated and…

The Abbey of Forest - of which all that remains today is the 18th-century horseshoe-shaped main courtyard - has a long history and a rich heritage. The Benedictine nuns settled on the site at the very beginning of the 12th century, initially in a priory under the supervision of Affligem Abbey. This became an independent abbey in 1239, and remained so until the end of the Ancien Régime, when the clergy's property was confiscated and the complex sold as national property in 1797. For the past seven years, archaeologists from the Museum Art & History have been studying the abbey in preparation for the work to convert the site into a cultural centre (ABY). The archaeologists will be giving (more…)

Guided walk around some of the facades of the Unesco Grand-Place district

rue des Éperonniers - Spoormakersstraat 55, 1000 Brussels

This walk around the Grand-Place - a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998 - is an opportunity to immerse yourself in the history of the destruction of the district after the bombardment in 1695 by…

This walk around the Grand-Place - a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998 - is an opportunity to immerse yourself in the history of the destruction of the district after the bombardment in 1695 by the troops of the French king Louis XIV. The reconstruction that followed is remarkable in more ways than one: for its speed, its architectural unity in the Baroque style, and the types of building materials used (reused, local, imported). The…

This walk around the Grand-Place - a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998 - is an opportunity to immerse yourself in the history of the destruction of the district after the bombardment in 1695 by the troops of the French king Louis XIV. The reconstruction that followed is remarkable in more ways than one: for its speed, its architectural unity in the Baroque style, and the types of building materials used (reused, local, imported). The tour includes (more…)

The Halles Saint-Géry archaeological showcases

Place Saint-Géry 1, 1000 Brussels

The archaeological objects of the Urban.brussels collection are presented to the public at the Halles Saint-Géry in several showcases on the ground floor. The alternation of themes in the largest showcase makes it possible to…

The archaeological objects of the Urban.brussels collection are presented to the public at the Halles Saint-Géry in several showcases on the ground floor. The alternation of themes in the largest showcase makes it possible to show a multitude of objects from daily life, from prehistory to the present day. This showcase is currently dedicated to a selection of discoveries made in 2019 during the archaeological research in the Impasse Saint-Nicolas, at a stone’s throw from…

The archaeological objects of the Urban.brussels collection are presented to the public at the Halles Saint-Géry in several showcases on the ground floor. The alternation of themes in the largest showcase makes it possible to show a multitude of objects from daily life, from prehistory to the present day. This showcase is currently dedicated to a selection of discoveries made in 2019 during the archaeological research in the Impasse Saint-Nicolas, at a stone’s throw from the Grand-Place. At the end of the plot there was a white stone well dating from the second half of the 15th century. It was emptied to a depth of two and a half metres below the ground floor level. Its filling contained a wealth…

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The Halle Gate

Halle Gate, Boulevard du Midi 150, 1000 Bruxelles

The imposing Halle Gate has dominated the capital since the 14th century. Today, this last vestige of the second city wall is used as a museum, but it has had many functions over the centuries…

The imposing Halle Gate has dominated the capital since the 14th century. Today, this last vestige of the second city wall is used as a museum, but it has had many functions over the centuries (prison, archive, etc.). In 1847, the Halle Gate officially became the Royal Museum of Armour, Antiquities and Ethnology, but the outdated layout of the building made it difficult for visitors to access. The city gate finally took its final shape…

The imposing Halle Gate has dominated the capital since the 14th century. Today, this last vestige of the second city wall is used as a museum, but it has had many functions over the centuries (prison, archive, etc.). In 1847, the Halle Gate officially became the Royal Museum of Armour, Antiquities and Ethnology, but the outdated layout of the building made it difficult for visitors to access. The city gate finally took its final shape in 1860, following the work of the architect H. Beyaert... Today, by means of various historical and archaeological objects, a museum circuit tells the story of the time when Brussels was a fortified city. At the top of the monument, the crenellated rampart offers a…

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