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Concept
Mont des Arts
Summary
The Mont des Arts (French, mɔ̃dɛzaʁ) or Kunstberg (Dutch, ˈkʏnzdbɛr(ə)x), meaning "Hill/Mount of the Arts", is an urban complex and historic site in central Brussels, Belgium, including the Royal Library of Belgium (KBR), the National Archives of Belgium, the Square – Brussels Meeting Centre, and a public garden.
This site is located between the Rue Montagne de la Cour/Hofbergstraat and the Place Royale/Koningsplein in its "upper" part, and the Boulevard de l'Empereur/Keizerslaan and the Place de l'Albertine/Albertinaplein in its "lower" part. It is served by Brussels Central Station.
The area of the Mont des Arts knew different affectations during its history. Jews settled there until the 14th century, as attested by the old Escaliers des Juifs or Ioode trappen ("Jewish Stairs"), a former series of four steep staircases leading to Brussels' upper town. Later, it used to be a densely populated neighbourhood; the Saint-Roch Quarter (Quartier Saint-Roch, Sint-Rochuswijk), centred around the now-disappeared Rue des Trois-Têtes/Driehoofdenstraat and the former Place du Palais/Paleisplein (today's Place de la Justice/Gerechtsplein), where Brussels' first courthouse was located.
Between the 15th and the 18th centuries, the hill overlooking the neighbourhood was known as the Montagne de la Cour/Hofberg ("Hill/Mount of the Court") after the former Palace of Coudenberg also located there. This impressive palace, famous all over Europe, had greatly expanded since it had first become the seat of the Dukes of Brabant, but it was destroyed by fire in 1731. Only a small section of the Rue Montagne de la Cour now remains below the Place Royale/Koningsplein. The district's development over the next centuries raised one of the most complex questions in the town-planning history of Brussels: the link between the upper and the lower town through the reorganisation of the Montagne de la Cour.
By the end of the 19th century, King Leopold II had the idea to convert the site into an arts' quarter and bought the whole neighbourhood.
Official source
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