Horta's Maison du Peuple, the districts razed for the rail link, the buried Senne: what the city lost, when, and what replaced it. Every entry cites its sources.
A 15,000-seat winter velodrome under a great glass roof, opened on 5 October 1913. The Rolling Stones played there in March 1966; last event on 16 November 1966, demolished in 1967.
In its place: The Brusilia residential tower (1972).
A working-class district that grew up near the Gare du Nord. The Manhattan Plan, approved on 17 February 1967, planned a business centre: most houses were destroyed and more than 15,000 residents evicted.
In its place: The office towers of the business district; the first opened in 1976.
Note: The number of residents evicted varies between sources.
Victor Horta's Art Nouveau masterpiece, built for the Belgian Workers' Party and opened on 2 April 1899 in the presence of Jean Jaurès. Destroyed in 1965 despite Belgian and international protests; part of it was dismantled and numbered for a possible reconstruction.
In its place: The Sablon Tower, 26 storeys of offices, also known as the Blaton Tower.
A 20-hectare shooting range opened in 1889 along Boulevard Reyers. Resistance members were executed there during both wars. Sold to the broadcasting service in 1962 and blown up on 29 April 1963.
In its place: The RTBF and VRT buildings; only the Enclos des Fusillés cemetery remains.
The terminus on Place Rogier, designed by François Coppens and opened in 1846. Today's station replaced it in 1952, a few hundred metres further north; the building was demolished in 1956.
In its place: The Centre Rogier (Martini Tower), then the Rogier Tower.
The first station in Brussels, opened on 5 May 1835 with the country's first railway line. Closed to passengers on 16 January 1954 and demolished between 1954 and 1958.
In its place: A Sabena heliport (1953–1966), then Parc Maximilien.
An Art Nouveau town house designed by Victor Horta for the industrialist Octave Aubecq. Destroyed in 1950; the main façade was dismantled and kept in the hope of a reconstruction.
A Renaissance palace built from 1550 to 1555 for Cardinal Granvelle, the first example of Roman Renaissance in the Low Countries. The university left it in 1928; it was demolished in 1931.
In its place: The works of the North–South rail link.
A working-class district between the Grand-Place and the upper town, home to about ten thousand people. For the North–South rail link, 970 dwellings were expropriated and demolished from 1910; only the Madeleine chapel escaped.
In its place: Central Station and the boulevards of the rail link, opened on 4 October 1952.
Note: The figure of ten thousand residents comes from the Dutch article only.
The Willebroek canal brought boats into the heart of the city. The Sainte-Catherine dock was filled in in 1853, the Barques, Foin and Commerce docks in 1910.
In its place: Place Sainte-Catherine, the Fish Market and the quays, which kept their names.
A very old working-class district on the slope of the Montagne de la Cour, around Rue des Trois-Têtes. The plan was voted in 1894 against the advice of Mayor Charles Buls; the district was demolished in 1897–1898.
In its place: Waste ground, a temporary garden for the 1910 Exhibition, then the Mont des Arts.
The Baroque church of the Augustinian convent, closed in 1796, later a Protestant temple. The new boulevards ran around it until it was demolished in 1893.
In its place: Place de Brouckère; its façade was rebuilt on the church of the Holy Trinity in Ixelles (1894).
A neoclassical building put up from 1818 to 1823 by François Verly on the site of the Jesuit church. Replaced by Poelaert's palace, opened in 1883, and demolished in 1892.
The river ran through the centre between tightly packed houses. The contract to cover it was signed on 15 June 1866; 1,100 houses were expropriated, work began in February 1867 and ended on 30 November 1871. Saint-Géry island vanished with the river.
In its place: The central boulevards, the Bourse and the Central Halls.
A Gothic church completed in 1584 on the large island in the Senne, linked to the founding of the city. Demolished under French rule, from 1798 to 1801.
In its place: A square, then the Halles Saint-Géry.
The second town wall was built from 1356 to 1383 and dismantled from 1782 to 1818. The Namur Gate, one of its gates, came down in 1784. Only the Halle Gate survives.
The rulers' residence for nearly 700 years, destroyed by fire on the night of 3–4 February 1731. The ruins stood for more than forty years, then were levelled between 1774 and 1778.
In its place: Place Royale and its district; the underground remains can be visited.
1963today
about 1890–19002015
