Editing Heysel Plateau (section)

==History==

===Rural beginnings===
The Osseghem estate on the Heysel Plateau was first mentioned in the [[Early Middle Ages]] and may have been on the site of a former [[Roman villa]]. In 1152, a sale of the ''Hof van Ossegem'' by the heirs of Meinard van Brussel to [[Affligem Abbey]] is documented, which also included the old Church of Our Lady of Laeken. This church, whose origins date back to the 8th century, was located nearby, as was the Chapel of St. Anna with its miraculous spring, which attracted many [[pilgrim]]s.

During the [[Ancien Régime]], the Heysel Plateau was still largely owned by the Affligem fathers, and the area belonged to the [[parish]] of [[Laeken]]. At the height of the plateau were two other hamlets: [[Verregat]] and Osseghem. The latter was found just south of today's [[King Baudouin Stadium]] and gave its name to today's Osseghem Park, while Vleurgat was further north, near the {{lang|fr|Chaussée Romaine|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Romeinse Steenweg|italic=no}}, where the Vleurgat residential area is today.

[[File:Ancienne église Notre-Dame de Laeken - 01.JPG|thumb|left|[[Choir (architecture)|Choir]] of the old Church of Our Lady of Laeken in [[Laeken Cemetery]]]]

In the 16th century, the Coensborgh Castle occupied an island on a pond formed by the Molenbeek. It was the property of the Meeûs family in the 17th century. In the 18th century, the beauty of the landscape motivated the construction of the [[Stuyvenberg Castle]] in 1725, the Palace of Schonenberg (today's [[Palace of Laeken|Royal Palace of Laeken]]) between 1782 and 1784,<ref name="castle">{{Cite web|title=Castle of Laeken|url=https://www.monarchie.be/|access-date=2022-01-14|website=The Belgian Monarchy|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=The Royal Castle of Laeken|url=https://visit.brussels/en/place/The-Royal-Castle-of-Laeken|access-date=2022-01-14|website=visit.brussels|language=en}}</ref> and the [[Belvédère Castle]] in 1788. The [[Ferraris map]] of 1777 does not show these first two castles but indicates the Osseghem farm, located a little south of the current King Baudouin Stadium. The Osseghem farm grew into a small village, which, in the 18th century, also included a ''Speelhuys'', a pavilion where the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mechelen–Brussels|Archbishop of Mechelen]] stayed when visiting Brussels.

Numerous [[Quarry|quarries]] were also operated on the Heysel Plateau, which supplied the building material for, among other things, the Abbey Church of Affligem, the Church of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel, the Jesuit Church in Antwerp and the [[Church of Our Lady of Finisterrae]] in central Brussels. Quarrying ceased towards the end of the 17th century, though traces can still be seen on the slopes to the east, in the Kattenberg and the depressions in Osseghem Park.

===19th-century urbanisation===
[[File:Laeken (Bruxelles). Institut d'économie ménagère agricole d'Hosseghem 02.jpg|thumb|Former Institute of Agricultural Home Economics of Osseghem]]

At the end of the 19th century, the Heysel still had a distinctly rural character,{{sfn|Chotin|c. 1859|p=133}} although there were already plans to develop it into a new urban area. In 1850, the [[Federal Government of Belgium|Belgian Government]] authorised the construction of a new [[Church of Our Lady of Laeken]], intended to replace the medieval building (destroyed except for its [[Choir (architecture)|choir]], which is still visible in the [[Laeken Cemetery|cemetery]] adjacent to the current church). [[Leopold I of Belgium|King Leopold I]] himself laid the first stone in 1854, although the new church, much larger than the old one, was not completed until 1909.{{sfn|State|2004|p=218}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Church of Our Lady of Laeken |url=http://www.laeken.brussels/en/locations/church-of-our-lady-of-laeken// |access-date=2022-12-12 |website=Laeken.Brussels |language=en-US}}</ref> In 1869, a school was inaugurated in the hamlet, probably on the {{lang|fr|Rue du Heysel|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Heizelstraat|italic=no}}. The Rue du Heysel itself was attested in an official document in 1875, and stretched between the {{lang|fr|Ancienne chaussée de Meysse|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Oude Meisesesteenweg|italic=no}} and the {{lang|fr|Rue de la Cave|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Kelderstraat|italic=no}} (today's {{lang|fr|Rue Émile Wauters|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Emile Wautersstraat|italic=no}}). The Villa Van der Borght was built in 1885 at the bottom of what is now the {{lang|fr|Boulevard du Centenaire|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Eeuwfeestlaan|italic=no}}, which was not yet laid out (the building will be razed in 1956), followed by the Church of St. Lambert around 1890.

Upon ascending to the throne, in 1865, [[Leopold II of Belgium|King Leopold II]] was concerned with the construction of a memorial to his father in the perspective of the Royal Palace of Laeken. The development of a surrounding public park was approved in 1867. [[Laeken Park]] was gradually developed between 1876 and 1880 based on plans by the German [[landscape architect]] Édouard Keilig, associated with the civil engineer Louis Van Schoubroeck. The park and the monument were completed in 1880, in time for the 50th anniversary of [[Belgian Revolution|Belgian independence]]. The king acquired more land on the Heysel in 1899. Plans to enlarge the Royal Palace lead to the demolition of the [[barracks]] located on its right flank, where a detachment of [[grenadier]]s, responsible since 1840 for the surveillance of the royal palaces, had been stationed. A new barracks was constructed between 1899 and 1902, in a Flemish [[Renaissance Revival architecture|neo-Renaissance]] style, according to the plans of the architect Jules-Jacques Van Ysendyck.{{sfn|Van der Elst|2003}} The buildings are now made available by Belgium for the [[European School, Brussels IV]]. In 1905, the 75th anniversary of the country's independence was celebrated with great fanfare, among others in Laeken Park. Later, the Institute of Agricultural Home Economics, a girls' school for agriculture and domestic science, was also set up in Osseghem.

===Later development (1920s–present)===
[[File:JubileeStadium1935.jpg|thumb|left|View of the [[King Baudouin Stadium|Jubilee Stadium]] in 1935]]

After the municipality of Laeken was annexed by the [[City of Brussels]] in 1921, the [[Belgium|Belgian State]] transferred some of Leopold II's former land to the city. Since the [[Cinquantenaire|Parc du Cinquantenaire/Jubelpark]] had become too cramped, Brussels' authorities wished to develop the Heysel into a new exhibition and conference location of international stature for the Belgian capital. The Centenary Palace complex ({{langx|fr|Palais du Centenaire|link=no}}, {{langx|nl|Eeuwfeestpaleis|link=no}}) was designed by the architect Joseph Van Neck to house the [[Brussels International Exposition (1935)|1935 World's Fair]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Palais des Expositions du Heysel – Inventaire du patrimoine architectural|url=https://monument.heritage.brussels/fr/Bruxelles_Laeken/Place_de_Belgique/A001/38321|access-date=2021-03-25|website=monument.heritage.brussels|language=fr}}</ref> The Jubilee Stadium on the Heysel was completed in 1930 as part of the centenary celebrations of the [[Belgian Revolution]]. It was renamed the Heysel Stadium after the [[Second World War]], and then the King Baudouin Stadium in 1995.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Stade Roi Baudouin, anciennement stade du Centenaire – Inventaire du patrimoine architectural|url=https://monument.heritage.brussels/fr/Bruxelles_Laeken/Avenue_de_Marathon/119b/38325|access-date=2021-03-25|website=monument.heritage.brussels|language=fr}}</ref>

[[File:EXPO Bruxelles 1935-B.jpg|thumb|right|The ''Palais des Expositions'' during the [[Brussels International Exposition (1935)|1935 World's Fair]]]]

In the 1950s, the Heysel underwent another major change in preparation for the 1958 Brussels World's Fair ([[Expo 58]]). On that occasion, 58 additional buildings were constructed, as well as the [[Atomium]], a [[symbol]]ic {{convert|103|m|ft|adj=mid|-tall}} [[Modern architecture|modernist]] structure by the architect [[André Waterkeyn]]. It consists of nine steel spheres connected by tubes, and forms a model of an [[iron]] [[crystal]] (specifically, a [[unit cell]]), magnified 165 billion times. Originally devoted to science, it would become a [[landmark]] of Brussels. Following the fair, most of the exhibition pavilions were gradually demolished, including a few, particularly emblematic, such as the [[Philips Pavilion]] by [[Le Corbusier]] and the ''Flèche du Génie civil'' sculpture, dynamited in 1970. The Atomium remains the main vestige of this period.

The Brussels Exhibition Centre ([[Brussels Expo]]) gradually expanded between 1977 and 1998 with the construction of the Palais/Paleis 11, the Palais/Paleis 12, and the Auditorium. It now has twelve halls, linked together by covered galleries, and currently occupies {{convert|22|ha|abbr=on}} of land, making it the most important event complex in the city and the largest exhibition space in the [[Benelux]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bruxelles Laeken - Palais des Expositions du Heysel - Place de Belgique - BAES Louis|url=http://www.irismonument.be/fr.Bruxelles_Laeken.Place_de_Belgique.A001.html|access-date=2020-12-03|website=www.irismonument.be}}</ref> The year 1985 was marked by the [[Heysel Stadium disaster]], a [[Crowd collapses and crushes|crowd disaster]], which caused 39 deaths during the final of the [[UEFA Champions League|European Cup]]. Since then, the stadium has been redeveloped and renamed the King Baudouin Stadium. That same year, the [[Heysel/Heizel metro station]] opened. In 1987, the [[Eurovision Song Contest 1987|32nd Eurovision Song Contest]] was organised in the Centenary Palace.