Travel Belgium About Brussels Upper Town Colonne Du Congres
At the west end of rue du Congrès, the 47-metre-high
Colonne du Congrès , on place due Congrès, was erected in 1850 to commemorate the country's first national parliament. The column sports a statue of Léopold I on top and four allegorical female figures down below, representing the freedoms enshrined in the Constitution: of worship, association, education and the press. The lions were added later, guarding the tomb of the unknown soldier, in front of which burns the eternal flame honouring Belgium's dead of the two World Wars. The column dominates a bleak belvedere, flanked by blank glass and concrete administration buildings and offering a singularly unflattering view of the city.
From the Colonne du Congrès, it's a ten-minute walk north along rue Royale to Le Botanique, or five minutes' walk west down to the entertaining Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée - the Belgian Comic Strip Centre
