Place Anneessens

The ( French) or (Dutch) is a square in Brussels, Belgium. It is named in honour of François Anneessens, dean of the Nation of St. Christopher (one of the Guilds of Brussels), who was beheaded on the Grand-Place/Grote Markt (Brussels' main square) during a period of uprisings within the Austrian Netherlands.

The square is located halfway down the /, in the Midi–Lemonnier or Stalingrad Quarter (southern part of the City of Brussels). It is served by the ''premetro'' (underground tram) station Anneessens on lines 3 and 4.

History

Together with the seven streets that lead to it, the Place Anneessens was laid out in 1639 on the ''Voldersbempt'' or ''Pré aux Foulons''; a secluded piece of meadow bordered by the /, the river Senne and a man-made arm of the river, called the "Lesser Senne" (french: Petite Senne, link=no, nl, Kleine Zenne, link=no).

Until the covering of the Senne (1867–1871), the square was the site of a famous flea market, known as the ''Old Market'' (french: Vieux Marché, link=no, nl, Oude Markt, link=no). Due to the construction of the Central Boulevards, which attracted a more affluent public, and complaints from local residents about "its filth and its fleas", in March 1873, Brussels' municipal council decided to transfer the ''Old Market'' to the Place du Jeu de Balle/Vossenplein in the Marolles/Marollen district, a function that square has kept to this day.

In 1870, the square was given the name of the liberal politician Joseph Lebeau. As early as 1889, it was renamed after François Anneessens, dean of the Nation of St. Christopher, who was beheaded in 1719 on the Grand-Place because of his resistance to innovations in city government detrimental to the power of the guilds and for his suspected involvement with uprisings within the Austrian Netherlands. A statue created in 1889 by the sculptor Thomas Vinçotte recalls Anneessens' memory.

Places of interest

On the western side, the square is dominated by the striking buildings of the former Municipal School no. 13, a building from 1880 in the neo-Flemish Renaissance style to the plans of the architect . The Lucien Cooremans Institute was also housed in the building. Today, the building is occupied by two departments of the (HEFF).

Since November 2013, there has been a comic strip wall with a four-storey mural depicting a scene from ''Thorgal'' on the corner of the Place Anneessens and the /.

File:Monument à François Anneessens - 01.JPG, Monument to François-Anneessens ( Vinçotte, 1889)
File:Brussel Anneessensplein 11 gemeenteschool n° 13.jpg, Former Municipal School no. 13 (currently the Haute École Francisco Ferrer)
File:Fonainas3.jpg, View towards the /
File:Stripmuur Thorgal.jpg, ''Thorgal and Aaricia'' comic strip wall (2013)

See also

* Neoclassical architecture in Belgium
* History of Brussels
* Belgium in "the long nineteenth century"

References

Notes

Bibliography

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* {{cite encyclopedia, first=Paul F., last=State, title=Historical dictionary of Brussels, volume=14, series=Historical dictionaries of cities of the world, location=Lanham, MD, publisher=Scarecrow Press, year=2004, isbn=978-0-8108-5075-0, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LErne3-05qoC

Squares in Brussels
City of Brussels
19th century in Brussels