Historical Pictures of Brussels (Belgium)

The most common theory of the origin of Brussels' name is that it derives from the Old Dutch Broekzele or Broeksel, meaning marsh (broek) and home (zele / sel) or "home in the marsh". The origin of the settlement that was to become Brussels lies in Saint Gaugericus' construction of a chapel on an island in the river Senne around 580. Saint Vindicianus, the bishop of Cambrai made the first recorded reference to the place "Brosella" in 695 when it was still a hamlet. The official founding of Brussels is usually situated around 979, when Duke Charles of Lower Lotharingia transferred the relics of Saint Gudula from Moorsel to the Saint Gaugericus chapel. Charles would construct the first permanent fortification in the city, doing so on that same island. See also : Historical Pictures of Bruges (Belgium)

Brussels Town Hall – around 1880

 Lambert I of Leuven, Count of Leuven gained the County of Brussels around 1000 by marrying Charles' daughter. Because of its location on the shores of the Senne on an important trade route between Brugesand Ghent, and Cologne, Brussels grew quite quickly; it became a commercial centre that rapidly extended towards the upper town (St. Michael and Gudula Cathedral, Coudenberg, Sablon area...), where there was a smaller risk of floods. As it grew to a population of around 30,000, the surrounding marshes were drained to allow for further expansion. The Counts of Leuven became Dukes of Brabant at about this time (1183/1184). In the 13th century, the city got its first walls.

Manneken Pis is a well-known public sculpture in Brussels.

Charles of Lorraine founded what would become Brussels c. 979

Grand Place after the 1695 bombardment by the French army

The 1927 Solvay Conference in Brussels was the fifth world physics conference.

Episode of the Belgian Revolution of 1830, Wappers (1834)

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