Small Ring (Brussels) - History

History

In the 16th century, Brussels had a second set of defensive walls built to accommodate the expanding city. There were eight gates built along its length, many of which give their names to squares and intersections along the course of the road.

The walls proved fairly useless in combat, not able to prevent either the French bombardment of Brussels in 1695, or French troops from seizing the city in 1746 as part of the War of the Austrian Succession. After the latter, the defensive works were in ruins. By that time, siege was no longer as important a part of warfare. Due to the growth of commerce and roads, it was found that the fortifications did little more than frustrate transit into and out of the city.

In 1782, Emperor Joseph II ordered the dismantling of most fortifications in the Low Countries, including those of Brussels. The dismantling work of the exterior defences began in the east of the city. In 1795, when Republican France invaded and annexed the Low Countries, the demolitions were stopped, not resuming until an order from Napoleon in 1804. Laeken Gate was destroyed in 1808. By an ordinance on May 19, 1810, the French Emperor ordered the second walls demolished and replaced by boulevards with a median in the centre. The fall of the First French Empire prevented the project's immediate execution.

With the return of stability, in 1818, authorities organized a contest for plans to demolish the ramparts and replace them with boulevards suited to the exigencies of contemporary life in the city. The proposal of Jean-Baptiste Vifquain was ultimately chosen. It involved construction of squares and boulevards, with spaces to walk and two to four rows of trees lining the route, a main road and parallel side roads. A barrier with a ditch running its length was still installed, however, and customs houses built at the entrances, to allow continued taxation of commercial goods entering the city. The work was to be financed by selling the land that was freed up, although this took over 20 years to do.

In the 1950s, with pressure from the automobile, new plans to improve traffic flow were implemented, partly due to the 1958 World's Fair. Later, tunnels were dug, and one of the main lines of the Brussels Metro now runs primarily underneath the small ring.