Royal Palace of Belgium
| Royal Palace of Brussels | |
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Main façade of the Royal Palace of Brussels (constructed 1904)
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 Location within Brussels
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| General information | |
| Type | Palace |
| Architectural style | Neoclassical |
| Location | Brussels, Belgium |
| Coordinates | 50°50′30″N 04°21′44″E / 50.84167°N 4.36222°ECoordinates: 50°50′30″N 04°21′44″E / 50.84167°N 4.36222°E |
| Current tenants | Monarchy of Belgium |
| Construction started | 1783 |
| Completed | 1934 |
| Client | Leopold II |
| Owner | Belgian federal government |
| Technical details | |
| Floor area | 33,027m2 (355,500ft2) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect |
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| Other designers | François Rude, Jan Fabre |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
| References | |
The Royal Palace of Brussels (Dutch: Koninklijk Paleis van Brussel [ˈkoːnɪŋklək pɑˈlɛis vɑn ˈbrɵsəl], French: Palais Royal de Bruxelles, German: Königlicher Palast von Brüssel) is the official palace of the King and Queen of the Belgians in the centre of the nation's capital Brussels. However it is not used as a royal residence, as the king and his family live in the Royal Palace of Laeken on the outskirts of Brussels. The website of the Belgian Monarchy describes the function of the palace as follows:
"The Palace is where His Majesty the King exercises his prerogatives as Head of State, grants audiences and deals with affairs of state. Apart from the offices of the King and the Queen, the Royal Palace houses the services of the Grand Marshal of the Court, the King's Head of Cabinet, the Head of the King's Military Household and the Intendant of the King's Civil List. The Palace also includes the State Rooms where large receptions are held, as well as the apartments provided for foreign Heads of State during official visits."
The palace is situated in front of Brussels Park. A long square called the Paleizenplein/Place des Palais separates the palace from the park. The middle axis of the park marks both the middle peristyle of the palace and the middle of the facing building on the other side of the park, which is the Palace of the Nation (the Belgian Federal Parliament building). The two facing buildings are said to symbolize Belgium's system of government: a constitutional monarchy.
As often mentioned it has a facade 50% longer than that of Buckingham Palace but its floor area of 33,027 m2 is less than half of Buckingham Palace's floor area (77,000 m2)
The facade we see today was only built after 1900 on the initiative of King Leopold II. The first nucleus of the present-day building dates from the end of the 18th century. However, the grounds on which the palace stands were once part of the Coudenberg Palace a very old palatial complex that dated back to the Middle Ages.
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Wikipedia