page_title: Covering of the Senne
section_title: The new central boulevards
hierarchical_section_title: Covering of the Senne / The new central boulevards
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Bruxelles, la Maison des Chats , 1874-75, architecte Henri Beyaert
context_page_description: The covering of the Senne was the covering and later diverting of the main river of Brussels, and the construction of public buildings and major boulevards in its place. Carried out between 1867 and 1871, it is one of the defining events in the history of Brussels.
  The Senne/Zenne was historically the main waterway of Brussels, but it became more polluted and less navigable as the city grew. By the second half of the 19th century, it had become a serious health hazard and was filled with pollution, garbage and decaying organic matter. It flooded frequently, inundating the lower town and the working class neighbourhoods which surrounded it.
  Numerous proposals were made to remedy this problem, and in 1865, the then-mayor of the City of Brussels, Jules Anspach, selected a design by architect Léon Suys to cover the river and build a series of grand boulevards and public buildings. The project faced fierce opposition and controversy, mostly due to its cost and the need for expropriation and demolition of working-class neighbourhoods. The construction was contracted to a British company, but control was returned to the government following an embezzlement scandal.
context_section_description: The series of boulevards created by the project—Hainaut Boulevard (now Maurice Lemonnier Boulevard), Central Boulevard (now Anspach Boulevard), North Boulevard (now Adolphe Max Boulevard), and Senne Boulevard (now Émile Jacqmain Boulevard)—were progressively opened to traffic from 1871 to 1873.
  The opening of these new routes offered a more efficient way to get into the lower town than the cramped streets of Rue du Midi/Zuidstraat, Rue des Fripiers/Kleerkopersstraat and Rue Neuve/Nieuwstraat and helped revitalise the lower quarters of the town. In order to accomplish this revitalisation and attract investment, public buildings were constructed as part of Léon Suys' project, including the Brussels Stock Exchange. The vast Central Halls (French: Halles Centrales, Dutch: Centrale Hallen), a good example of metallic architecture, replaced unhygienic open-air markets, though it was torn down in 1958. The monumental fountain, which was to break the monotony of the boulevards at Fontainas Square, was abandoned for budgetary reasons.
  The construction of private buildings on the boulevards and surrounding areas took place later. The middle class continued to prefer living in new suburbs rather than the cramped areas of the city centre. The high prices of the land (expected to finance part of the construction costs) and the high rents were not within the means of the lower classes. Life in apartments was no longer desirable for residents of Brussels, who preferred to live in single family homes. The buildings constructed by private citizens had difficulty finding buyers.
  To give builders an incentive to create elaborate and appealing facades on their works, an architecture competition was arranged in which twenty buildings built before 1 January 1876 would win prizes. The first prize of 20,000 francs was awarded to Henri Beyaert who designed the Maison des Chats or Hier ist in den kater en de kat (loosely, "House of Cats") on North Boulevard. Nonetheless, it took another 20 years, until 1895, for buildings to solidly line the boulevards.
  The Temple of the Augustinians, built at the beginning of the 17th century in the Baroque style after designs by Jacob Franquart, was the only remaining part of a convent destroyed in 1796 by French revolutionaries. After having been used as a Protestant church from 1815 to 1830, it subsequently saw use as a concert hall, a commercial exchange, and a post office. At the centre of De Brouckère Square, the church's facade was intended by Léon Suys to be one of the focal points of the new boulevards. The work to cover the river, which nearly surrounded the church, preserved the integrity of the building at great trouble and expense, but the church was finally demolished in 1893, its style no longer popular with the people and its presence unsuitable for the area. The church was replaced by a fountain dedicated to the memory of Jules Anspach. Its facade, however, was preserved, being disassembled and moved to serve as the facade for the Church of the Holy Trinity in the municipality of Ixelles.
caption: The House of Cats by Henri Beyaert, which won first prize in the 1876 contest
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