Brussels-South railway station
Saint-Gilles has a multicultural identity stemming from its diverse population. For example, the central square (French: "Place Van Meenen", Dutch: "Van Meenenplein") hosts the annual festival of Brussels' Portuguese community. The housing stock varies from semi-derelict tenements near the Brussels-South railway station in the north, to elegant patrician houses on the southern borders with Uccle and Ixelles, to tourist hotels at the inner end of the Chaussée de Charleroi/Charleroisesteenweg. Saint-Gilles is also known as one of the centers of artistic and student life in Brussels.