The Palace of Justice is the Supreme Court of Law for Belgium. Commissioned by King Leopold II it was built between 1866 and 1883 by architect Joseph Poelaert in a neo-classical/eclectic design.
The Palace covers a surface area of 160 x 150 meters (26,000 m²) - bigger then St Peter’s in Rome – and was the largest secular building to be constructed in 19th century Europe. Topped by a massive copper dome (24 000 tons) the building is 105 m high. It contains 27 large court rooms and 245 smaller court rooms.
Sitting on top of Galgenberg hill (Gallows Hill), where criminals were executed in the middle ages, space was created for the mammoth structure by destroying most of the houses in the Marollen quarter - the city’s poorest area. As a result of the forced evictions the word ‘architect’ is still considered an insult in this part of the city.
On the Eve of Belgium’s liberation on the 3 Sep 1944, the fleeing Nazi’s set fire to the Palace and exploded bombs in its basement - causing extensive damage that resulted in the dome collapsing. Work on repairing the Palace commenced immediately and was completed in 1947. During this renovation, the dome - which many critics considered too low for the building - was re-erected 2.5 meters higher, making it clearly visible from all angles.
There are views of Brussels to the right of the Palace of Justice in Place Poelaert.
Address
Palace of Justice
1 Place Poelaert
1000
Brussels
Telephone: 02 508 6578
How to Get There
Metro: Louise Station
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