Brussels Stock Exchange
The Brussels Stock Exchange (, ) was founded in 1801 by decree of Napoleon. As part of the covering of the river Senne for health and aesthetic reasons in the 1860s and 1870s, a massive programme of beautification of the city centre was undertaken. Architect Léon-Pierre Suys, as part of his proposal for covering of the Senne, designed a building to become the centre of the rapidly expanding business sector. It was to be located on the former butter market, (itself situated on the ruins of the former "Recollets" Franciscan convent) on the newly created Anspach Boulevard (then called 'Central Boulevard'). The building was erected from 1868 to 1873, and housed the Brussels Stock Exchange until 1996. The Bourse is due to become a beer museum and will open to the public in 2018. The building does not have a distinct name, though it is usually called simply the /. It is located on Boulevard Anspach, and is the namesake of the "Place de la Bourse/Beursplein", which is, after the Grand Place, the second most important square in Brussels. The building combines elements of the Neo-Renaissance and Second Empire architectural styles. It has an abundance of ornaments and sculptures, created by famous artists, including the brothers Jacques and Joseph Jacquet, Guillaume de Groot, French sculptor Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse and his then-assistant Auguste Rodin.