Anderlecht

History

Origins and medieval times

15th–18th centuries

19th century and later

Geography

Location

Climate

Districts

Historical centre

• The Saint-Guidon/Sint Guido district, also called the Vaillance/Dapperheid district, is the meeting point for those who hail to the heart of Anderlecht. It is also where the Place de la Vaillance/Dapperheidsplein, the Church of St. Guido, the Place de Linde/De Lindeplein, as well as Anderlecht's main schools are located. The Rue Wayez/Wayezstraat is the municipality's main shopping street. It is centred on the Place of the Resistance/Verzetsplein and some neighbouring streets.
• The smaller Aumale district in its northern part mainly comprises the Rue d'Aumale/Aumalestraat and its surrounding streets. It includes the Erasmus House, the old beguinage, as well as the Bibliothèque de l'Espace Maurice Carême French-language public library.

Cureghem/Kuregem

Meir

Veeweyde/Veeweide

La Roue/Het Rad

Scheut

Main sights

• The Municipal Hall of Anderlecht, located on the Place du Conseil/Raadsplein, designed in neo-Flemish Renaissance style by the architect, which was opened in 1879.
• The Collegiate Church of St. Peter and St. Guido, located in the municipality's historical centre, on the northern side of the Place de la Vaillance/Dapperheidsplein, its main square. Its Romanesque crypt dates from the 10th century and is one of the oldest in Belgium. It contains a very old tombstone considered to be the grave of the 11th-century Saint Guy. Most of the church, however, dates from around 1350 and later, with most of the currently visible architecture representing the Ogee style. Construction of the tower started in 1517 but ceased with the square part up to the balcony, and was not completed until 1898.
• The Erasmus House, built between 1460 and 1515, with its medicinal and philosophical gardens, which can be visited nearby. Right next to the church, the old beguinage is home to a local history museum. Both institutions are now managed jointly as the Erasmus House & Beguinage Museums.
• The Synagogue of Anderlecht, an Orthodox synagogue designed in Art Deco style by the architect and completed in 1933.
• The National Memorial to the Jewish Martyrs of Belgium, a monument commemorating the 24,600 Belgian Jewish martyrs of World War II, designed by the architects André Godart and Odon Dupire, and completed in 1970. It is located in the centre of the Square des Martyrs Juifs/Joodse-Martelarensquare, which was created for the occasion.
• The National Museum of the Resistance, which traces the history of the Belgian Resistance and German occupation of Belgium during World War II.
• The Museum of China – Scheut, which houses documents and pieces brought back to Europe by the congregation of Scheut Missionaries, including a 15th-century bronze Buddha.
• The Maurice Carême Museum, in the Maison blanche where the Belgian poet lived and wrote.
• The Luizenmolen in Neerpede, a replica of an old windmill which once stood on the site.
• The Cureghem Cellars, a subterranean complex of handmade brick caves with vaults, pillars, and arches, originally the site of a cattle market covered by a forged iron roof in the 1890s. The cellars were simply a foundation for the upper structure until the 1930s, when the city council decided to make better use of them. It proved more profitable to grow mushrooms in the dark and damp underground spaces for local consumption. It fell into disuse as a cattle market but, in 1984, the hall was officially listed as a Belgian monument. Due to its characteristic architecture and unique layout, it was refurbished and transformed by a private company, Abattoir SA. Since 1992, it has served as an event site. One of these was the anatomic exposition Body Worlds by Gunther Von Hagens, which ran in the cellars between 2008 and 2009 and attracted over 500,000 visitors.
• The Cantillon Brewery, a gueuze museum established in an actual working brewery.
• The Museum of Medicine, located on the Erasme/''Erasmus'' campus of the Université libre de Bruxelles.
• The Jean-Claude Van Damme statue, located on the Boulevard Sylvain Dupuis/Sylvain Dupuislaan, near the Westland Shopping Center.

Demographics

Historical population

• Sources: INS: 1806 to 1980 = census; 1990 and later = population on 1 January

Foreign population

Politics

Events

Economy

Healthcare

• Erasmus Hospital
• Jules Bordet Institute
• Joseph Bracops Hospital
• St. Anne St. Remigius Clinic

Sports

Football

Parks and green spaces

• Astrid Park
• Parc Forestier/Bospark, in Scheut
• Scherdemael Park
• Peterbos Park
• Joseph Lemaire Park
• Jean Vives Park
• Parc des Étangs/Vijverspark, in Neerpede
• Parc de la Rosée/Dauwpark, in Cureghem
• The Vogelzang or Vogelenzang, a natural protected area

Notable inhabitants

• Saint Guy, known as the Poor Man of Anderlecht, patron saint of Anderlecht
• Adrian VI, pope, theologian, rector at the University of Leuven, canon at the chapter of Anderlecht
• , politician and mayor of Anderlecht
• Jacques Brel, singer-songwriter and actor. He lived from 1942 to 1951 at 7, rue Jacques Manne/Jacques Mannestraat, and worked from 1946 to 1953 in the family cardboard box factory Vanneste & Brel at 18, rue Verheyden/Verheydenstraat. A nearby metro station is named after him.
• Maurice Carême, poet
• Fernand Dineur, cartoonist
• , also known as Zidrou, comic book artist
• Desiderius Erasmus, humanist and theologian
• , actor, stage manager and professor of the Théâtre royal des Galeries
• , architect
• Désiré Keteleer, cyclist
• Filip Peeters, Flemish actor
• Germaine Schneider, Belgian-Swiss member of the Resistance during World War II
• Henri Seroka, singer and composer
• Henri Simonet, politician and mayor of Anderlecht
• Jacques Simonet, politician, mayor of Anderlecht, and Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region
• , architect
• Philippe Thys, cyclist and three-time champion of the Tour de France
• Tonia, singer, represented Belgium at the 11th Eurovision Song Contest in 1966
• Toots Thielemans, jazz musician
• William Vance, comic book artist
• Constant Vanden Stock, entrepreneur, footballer, functionary, and coach of the football team|Belgium national team]
• Virgile Vandeput, Belgian-born alpine skier who competes for Israel
• Régine Zylberberg, better known as Régine, chanson singer, actress, clothing designer and nightclub entrepreneur
• Abdelhamid Abaaoud, Islamic terrorist

• Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant, the eldest child of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde; heiress
• Princes Gabriel and Emmanuel and Princess Eléonore; 2nd, 3rd and 4th in line to the throne of Belgium
• Yannick Mertens, professional tennis player

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

• Boulogne-Billancourt, France
• Berlin-Neukölln, Germany
• London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, United Kingdom
• Zaandam, Netherlands
• Marino, Italy

• Sainte-Maxime, France