Saint-Géry Island
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Saint-Géry Island (french: île Saint-Géry) or Sint-Goriks Island (
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
: ) was the largest island in the river
Senne Senne may refer to: Places * Senne (Germany), a natural region of Germany *Senne, a district of Bielefeld, Germany * Senne (river), a river of Belgium *Senné (disambiguation), places in Slovakia People with the name *Yōkō Senne, a 13th-centur ...
in
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 was named after
Saint Gaugericus Saint Gaugericus, in French Saint Géry (also known as Gorik, Gau; in Walloon, Djèri) ( 550 – August 11, 619) was a bishop of Cambrai, France. Biography He was born to Roman parents, Gaudentius and Austadiola, at ''Eposium'' (present Ca ...
, nl, Sint-Goriks, link=no of
Cambrai Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department and in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, regio ...
, who according to legend, built a
chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...
there around 580. It ceased to exist as an island when the Senne was covered over in the late 19th century, and a former covered market; the /, was built in its centre. Since the late 20th century, this building has been rehabilitated as an exhibition space.


Location and accessibility

Saint-Géry Island's easternmost edge was located more or less due west across today's Boulevard Anspach/Anspachlaan from the Place de la Bourse/Beursplein and the former
Brussels Stock Exchange The Brussels Stock Exchange (french: Bourse de Bruxelles, nl, Beurs van Brussel), abbreviated to BSE, was founded in Brussels, Belgium, by decree of Napoleon in 1801. In 2002, the BSE merged with the Amsterdam, Lisbon and Paris stock exchang ...
building. The island was roughly round, and was originally centred on the Church of St. Gaugericus, then following the church's demolition in 1798–1802, on the /, a former covered market, which has since become one of Brussels' trendiest districts. Many streets and buildings in the area still bear the name /. On a small square between the / and the /, there is also still a dead arm of the Senne, the only part of the river in the city centre that is not vaulted. This neighbourhood is served by the ''
premetro A premetro is a tramway or light railway which includes segments built to rapid transit standards, generally as part of a process of conversion to a metro-standards railway usually by the construction of tunnels in the central city area. Histo ...
'' (underground tram) station Bourse/Beurse on lines 3 and 4.


History


Early history

According to local legend,
Saint Gaugericus Saint Gaugericus, in French Saint Géry (also known as Gorik, Gau; in Walloon, Djèri) ( 550 – August 11, 619) was a bishop of Cambrai, France. Biography He was born to Roman parents, Gaudentius and Austadiola, at ''Eposium'' (present Ca ...
of
Cambrai Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department and in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, regio ...
built a
chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...
on the island around the year 580; hence the name ''Brussels'', which derives from the
Old Dutch In linguistics, Old Dutch (Dutch: Oudnederlands) or Old Low Franconian (Dutch: Oudnederfrankisch) is the set of Franconian dialects (i.e. dialects that evolved from Frankish) spoken in the Low Countries during the Early Middle Ages, from aroun ...
, or , meaning "marsh" ( / ) and "home" or "settlement" ( / / ) or "settlement in the marsh".Zo ontstond Brussel
Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie - Commission of the Flemish Community in Brussels
Starting in the 10th century, the church began to house the
relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...
s of the
martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
Saint Gudula Saint Gudula was born in the pagus of Brabant (in present-day Belgium). According to her 11th-century biography ( Vita Gudilae), written by a monk of the abbey of Hautmont between 1048 and 1051, she was the daughter of a duke of Lotharingia calle ...
, who had died two centuries earlier, transferred there from
Moorsel Moorsel is a village in the Denderstreek in the province East Flanders in Belgium, a '' deelgemeente'' of the city of Aalst. The village belongs to a league of neighbouring villages, which call themselves the ''Faluintjesgemeenten''. Moorsel is ...
(located in today's province of
East Flanders , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of Oost-Vlaanderen.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van O ...
) by Duke Charles of Lower Lorraine. In 1047, these relics were transferred again by Count Lambert II of Leuven to the church that would later become the
Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula nl, Kathedraal van Sint-Michiel en Sint-Goedele , native_name_lang = , image = Saints-Michel-et-Gudule Luc Viatour.jpg , imagesize = 200px , imagelink = , imagealt = , landscape ...
. When King
Lothair II Lothair II (835 – 8 August 869) was the king of Lotharingia from 855 until his death. He was the second son of Emperor Lothair I and Ermengarde of Tours. He was married to Teutberga (died 875), daughter of Boso the Elder. Reign For political ...
appointed the same Charles (his brother) to become Duke of
Lower Lotharingia The Duchy of Lower Lotharingia, also called Northern Lotharingia, Lower Lorraine or Northern Lorraine (and also referred to as ''Lothier'' or ''Lottier''
in 977, Charles constructed a fort on the island. Past the island, navigation on the Senne was much more difficult, so it was a good strategic position. It had to defend not only the area, but also the western frontier of the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
(to which the
Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant was a State of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries, part of the Burgundian Netherlands from 1430 and of the Habsburg Neth ...
, and thus also Brussels, belonged) against attacks by the
French kings France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the first ...
and their powerful vassals, the
Counts of Flanders The count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders, beginning in the 9th century. Later, the title would be held for a time, by the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain. During the French Revolution, in 1790, the co ...
. This fort marked the birth of the
City of Brussels The City of Brussels (french: Ville de Bruxelles or alternatively ''Bruxelles-Ville'' ; nl, Stad Brussel or ''Brussel-Stad'') is the largest municipality and historical City centre, centre of the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, as well a ...
, though the ruins have not been found. The island was also said to be once completely carpeted in
yellow iris ''Iris pseudacorus'', the yellow flag, yellow iris, or water flag, is a species of flowering plant in the family Iridaceae. It is native to Europe, western Asia and northwest Africa. Its specific epithet ''pseudacorus'' means "false acorus", ref ...
es. Due to the island's importance, the iris has been a symbol of Brussels since the 19th century, and a stylised version is featured on the flag of the
Brussels-Capital Region 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 ...
. By the 12th century, the island was home to a high density of
watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...
s, playing an important role in Brussels' growth as a commercial centre. During the Middle Ages, the island also housed a large number of
fishmonger A fishmonger (historically fishwife for female practitioners) is someone who sells raw fish and seafood. Fishmongers can be wholesalers or retailers and are trained at selecting and purchasing, handling, gutting, boning, filleting, displaying, me ...
s, who would use the surrounding river to exchange the water in their fish reservoirs. Fish were extremely important in the
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
city, as fasts prescribed by the church were rigorously obeyed. This ceased to be common practice even before the
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
, as a growing number of tanners,
dye A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution an ...
rs and other trades dumped their waste into the river, causing it to be unsuitable for storing fish. At the end of the 18th century, under the
French revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
ary regime, the
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
Church of St. Gaugericus (which had replaced the chapel) was razed, replaced by a fountain centred on an
obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...
, dating from 1767, which had been taken from
Grimbergen Abbey Grimbergen Abbey is a Premonstratensian monastery in Grimbergen, Flemish Brabant, Belgium, established in 1128 in the place of an earlier foundation of Augustinian Canons. The abbey itself was dissolved in 1796 in the aftermath of the French ...
(in present-day
Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant ( nl, Vlaams-Brabant ; french: Brabant flamand ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Haina ...
). The square was an open-air market for the following century. File:SintGoriksBrussel.jpg, The Church of St. Gaugericus in the 18th century (demolished 1798–1802) File:Caricature représentant l’actuelle place Saint-Géry, lors de l’inondation de janvier 1820, reproduction d’un dessin, Collection iconographique (ref. K-573), Archives de la Ville de Bruxelles.jpg, Cartoon showing the / during the flood of January 1820 File:Borgwal 1867.jpg, Saint-Géry Island in 1867, before the
covering of the Senne The covering of the Senne (french: Voûtement de la Senne, nl, Overwelving van de Zenne) was the covering and later diverting of the main river of Brussels, Belgium, and the construction of public buildings and major boulevards in its place. ...


19th century–present

Around 1870, when the Senne was covered over, the island ceased to exist as an island and some of its eastern sections were demolished to make way for the modern
bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...
housing on the newly constructed Boulevard Anspach/Anspachlaan (then called the /). Plans were made to create a covered market to replace the open-air one, and in 1882, work was completed. The building, known as the ' ( nl, Sint-Gorikshallen, link=no) was designed by the architect in the
Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...
style. The interior, which still includes the old fountain-obelisk, has four rows of double blue stone stalls. The building's metallic structure is an outstanding architectural example of hall design. The Halles Saint-Géry prospered until after the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, then, abandoned by traders, it was finally closed in 1977. Despite the building's designation in 1987 and several attempts at commercial or cultural reassignment, it took more than twenty years for the halls to benefit from a definitive rehabilitation as an exhibition space. Nowadays, the Saint-Géry area is well known for the many bars,
café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...
s and restaurants in the vicinity, making it a popular nightspot in the capital. File:Saint Géry vers 1881.jpg, Construction of the /, File:Goriksmarkt.jpg, The Halles Saint-Géry as it appears today File:Halles St-Géry 1101.jpg, Interior of the Halles Saint-Géry


See also

*
History 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 in "the long nineteenth century" In the history of Belgium, the period from 1789 to 1914, dubbed the " long 19th century" by the historian Eric Hobsbawm, includes the end of Austrian rule and periods of French and Dutch occupation of the region, leading to the creation of the ...


References


Footnotes


Notes


Bibliography

* *


External links


Halles Saint Géry official homepage
- Events calendar, Photo gallery, and more.
ASBL Saint Géry
- Neighbours and Businesses Association. {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint-Gery Island Geography of Brussels History of Brussels Former islands City of Brussels