Malou Park (french: Parc Malou, nl, Maloupark) is an urban park in the

Woluwe-Saint-Lambert Woluwe-Saint-Lambert () or Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe ( Dutch, ) is one of the nineteen municipalities in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. It is a prosperous residential area, with a mixture of flats and detached, semi-detached and terraced hou ...

municipality of

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium. It is in the valley of the

Woluwe The Woluwe (; ) is a stream that goes through several municipalities in the southeast and east of Brussels and is a right tributary of the Senne/Zenne (in Vilvoorde). The Kleine Maalbeek is a tributary of the Woluwe (in Kraainem). Many ponds fo ...

stream, to the south-east of the Woluwe Shopping Center. It is the municipality's oldest and biggest park.

History

The park was established on the marshy, boggy field surrounding the banks of the Struybeek stream, a tributary of the

. In 1774 the park featured seven fish ponds, a small hunting lodge called ''t'Speelgoet'' and a small reservoir. The gardens of the Speelgoet castle were laid out in the early 17th century by the hunting lodge's first known owners, a local family called Preud'homme. In 1776, the local merchant and banker Lambert de Lamberts built his château residence in the park, which was to be later renamed after

Jules Malou Jules Edouard Xavier Malou (19 October 1810 – July 1886) was a Belgian statesman, a leader of the clerical party. Career Malou was born at Ypres. He was a civil servant in the department of justice when he was elected to the Chamber of Deput ...

, the most famous of its residents. The château's successive owners transformed the formal gardens to the park's present form – a landscape largely covered by trees. The municipality acquired the park in 1951. The remains of the previously large bogs or marshy areas can still be seen behind the Lindekemale watermill.

Situation

Malou Park lies to the east of the major thoroughfare /, bordered from the north by the /, from the south by the / and from the east by the /. The park overlooks the valley of the

, which is a tributary of the large lake on the western side of the park. It covers some in total, including the last remaining pond, home to several ducks and swans.Parcs et Jardins de la Région Bruxelles - Capitale
/ref> There are four principal recreation areas within the park: * the walk along the banks of the brook and pond, renovated in 2001; * the area of relaxation and culture in and around the Château Malou, with its contemporary art exhibitions; * the botanical area with vegetable groupings such as

alder tree Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few s ...

s, with

ivy ''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa and ...

and

lesser celandine ''Ficaria verna'' (formerly ''Ranunculus ficaria'' ), commonly known as lesser celandine or pilewort, is a low-growing, hairless perennial flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae native to Europe and Western Asia. It has fleshy dar ...

, and a marshy alder plantation with nettles and meadowsweet; * a playground to the east of the château featuring a pirate boat.

Prominent sights

One of the most prominent features of the park is the Château Malou, a neoclassical castle built in 1776. In 1853, the building was occupied by the politician and statesman

and both the château and the surrounding parkland bears his name. The Lindekemale watermill is a 12th-century structure on the northern side of the park, currently operating as a restaurant. On the same side, there is also an enormous statue of a lion.

References

Notes

External links