Small Ring (Brussels) - Crossroads

Crossroads

The small ring also crosses a lot of main roads leading to other towns. Some of those crossroads are located next to former gates of the second walls of Brussels and are named after those gates, for instance Porte de Namur/Naamsepoort. On top of the 7 gates of the second walls, some of the gates were built later on to collect taxes at important crossroads, among which the Porte de Ninove/Ninoofsepoort and the Porte d'Anvers/Antwerpsepoort. The only gate to remain is the Porte de Hal/Hallepoort, while at Porte d'Anderlecht/Anderlechtsepoort and at Porte de Ninove/Ninoofsepoort some buildings from the former gate remain.

Starting from the north-east of the small ring, place Sainctelette, and going clockwise, the ring crosses successively:

  • the Willebroeck Canal at Place Sainctelette/Saincteletteplein
  • the Quai de Willebroek /Willebroekkaai at Place de l'Yser/IJzerplein
  • the Chaussée d'Anvers/Antwerpsesteenweg (N1 road) at Porte d'Anvers/Antwerpsepoort, leading to Breda via Mechelen and Antwerp
  • the Rue du Progrès/Vooruitgangstraat at Place Rogier/Rogierplein
  • the Rue Royale/Koningsstraat at Porte de Schaerbeek/Schaarbeeksepoort
  • the Chaussée de Louvain/Leuvensesteenweg (N2 road) at Place Madou/Madouplein, leading to Maastricht via Leuven and Hasselt
  • the Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat (N3 road) at Arts-Loi/Kunst-Wet, leading to Aachen via Tervuren, Leuven and Liège
  • the Rue Belliard/Belliardstraat at Belliard
  • the Rue du Trône/Troonstraat at Place du Trône/Troonplein
  • the Chaussée de Wavre (N4 road) at Porte de Namur/Naamsepoort, leading to Luxembourg via Wavre, Namur and Arlon
  • the Avenue Louise/Louizalaan at Place Louise/Louizaplein
  • the Chaussée de Waterloo/Waterloosesteenweg (N5 road) at Porte de Hal/Hallepoort, leading to France via Waterloo, Charleroi and Couvin
  • the Avenue Fonsny/Fonsnylaan at the Brussels-South railway station
  • the Chaussée de Mons/Bergensesteenweg (N6 road) at Porte d'Anderlecht/Anderlechtsepoort, leading to Maubeuge via Halle (where the N7 road starts towards Lille via Tournai) and Mons
  • the Chaussée de Ninove/Ninoofsesteenweg (N8 road) at Porte de Ninove/Ninoofsepoort, leading to Koksijde via Ninove, Oudenaarde and Kortrijk
  • the Chaussée de Gand/Steenweg op Gent (N9 road) at Porte de Flandre/Vlaamsepoort, leading to Ostend via Ghent and Brugge

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Famous quotes containing the word crossroads:

    “The sacrifice to Legba was completed; the Master of the Crossroads had taken the loas’ mysterious routes back to his native Guinea.
    Meanwhile, the feast continued. The peasants were forgetting their misery: dance and alcohol numbed them, carrying away their shipwrecked conscience in the unreal and shady regions where the savage madness of the African gods lay waiting.”
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