Mont des Arts: The Panoramic Balcony of Brussels

Why is it significant?

Pause on the upper terrace of the Mont des Arts and take in the definitive skyline panorama of Brussels unfolding before you.

Key Facts

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Pause on the upper terrace of the Mont des Arts and take in the definitive skyline panorama of Brussels unfolding before you. Directly ahead, framed by sculpted rows of leafy plane trees, cascading fountains, and colorful floral parterres, the ninety-six-meter Gothic spire of the Grand-Place Town Hall pierces the horizon, forming one of the most celebrated vistas in Western Europe, where the royal upper city gracefully cascades toward the merchant town.

This monumental vantage point was first envisioned at the end of the nineteenth century by King Leopold the Second, Belgium's ambitious builder king. Leopold dreamed of creating an elevated cultural acropolis that would unite the nation's treasures, including the Royal Library of Belgium, the national archives, and world-class fine art museums, bridging the aristocratic Upper Town with the working-class Lower Town in a magnificent display of Belgian cultural ambition.

In the nineteen fifties, urban planners transformed the slope into its current monumental modernist complex ahead of the nineteen fifty-eight Brussels World's Fair. Look along the curved arcade of the Dynastie building to your right, where a colossal carillon clock incorporates twelve bronze automaton figures depicting historical personalities from Brussels' past, including medieval burghers, soldiers, and artists, rotating to chime regional folk melodies on the hour.

The cascading sunken gardens below were masterminded in nineteen fifty-eight by renowned Belgian landscape architect René Péchère. Featuring geometric boxwood borders, recessed fountain pools, and terraced stone stairs, the gardens create a dynamic play of light and shadow, particularly in the evening when underwater spotlights illuminate the spurting fountain jets and cast glowing reflections upon the manicured lawns.

Descend the monumental stone staircase through the gardens, cross Rue de l'Impératrice, and walk up the gentle incline of Treurenberg hill toward the twin towers of Brussels Cathedral.