Editing Heysel Plateau (section)

===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.