Editing Woluwe-Saint-Pierre

{{Short description|Municipality of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox Belgium municipality
|namefr          = Woluwe-Saint-Pierre
|namenl          = Sint-Pieters-Woluwe
|picture         = Maison Communale Woluwe.jpg
|picture-legend  = Woluwe Saint-Pierre's Municipal Hall
|map             = Woluwe-Saint-Pierre Brussels-Capital Belgium Map.svg
|map-legend      = Woluwe-Saint-Pierre municipality in the Brussels-Capital Region
|arms            = Greater Coat of arms Woluwe-Saint-Pierre.svg
|flag            = Flag of Sint-Pieters-Woluwe.svg
|flag_link       = Symbols of Brussels#Municipalities
|arms_link       = Symbols of Brussels#Municipalities
|region          = {{BE-REG-BRU}}
|community       = {{BE-FR}}<br />{{BE-NL}}
|province        =
|arrondissement  = [[Arrondissement of Brussels-Capital|Brussels-Capital]]
|nis             = 21019
|pyramid-date=
|0-19=
|20-64=
|65=
|foreigners=
|foreigners-date=
|mayor           = Benoît Cerexhe (LB)
|majority        = LB, [[Ecolo]]-[[Groen (political party)|Groen]], [[DéFI]]
|postal-codes    = 1150
|telephone-area  = 02
|web             = [http://www.woluwe1150.be/ www.woluwe1150.be]
|coordinates     = {{coord|50|50|N|04|28|E|region:BE|display=inline,title}}
}}

'''Woluwe-Saint-Pierre''' ([[French language|French]], {{IPA|fr|wolywe sɛ̃ pjɛʁ|pron|Brussels_Communes_Audio_Wikipedia_-_Woluwe_Saint-Pierre.wav}}){{efn|''Woluwe-Saint-Pierre'' is sometimes also spelled ''Woluwé-Saint-Pierre'' in French, with an [[stress (phonology)|accent]] on the first "e". Though the first version (without an accent) is the official version, the second one fits more the French pronunciation.}} or '''Sint-Pieters-Woluwe''' ([[Dutch language|Dutch]], {{IPA|nl|sɪnt ˈpitərs ˈʋoːlyu.ə|pron|Nl-Sint-Pieters-Woluwe.ogg}}) is one of the [[List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region|19 municipalities]] of the [[Brussels-Capital Region]], Belgium. Located in the eastern part of the region, it is bordered by [[Etterbeek]], [[Auderghem]] and [[Woluwe-Saint-Lambert]], as well as the [[Flanders|Flemish]] municipalities of [[Kraainem]] and [[Tervuren]]. In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally [[Multilingualism|bilingual]] (French–Dutch).

{{As of|2022|1|1}}, the municipality had a population of 42,216 inhabitants.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|title=Molenbeek-Saint-Jean {{!}} IBSA|url=https://ibsa.brussels/chiffres/chiffres-cles-par-commune/molenbeek-saint-jean|access-date=2021-09-24|website=ibsa.brussels}}</ref> The total area is {{convert|8.94|km2||abbr=on}}, which gives a [[population density]] of {{convert|4722|PD/km2||abbr=on}}. It is mostly a well-to-do residential area, which includes the wide, park-lined, [[Avenue de Tervueren|Avenue de Tervueren/Tervurenlaan]], and the numerous embassies located near the [[Square Maréchal Montgomery|Square Maréchal Montgomery/Maarschalk Montgomeryplein]]. Of the three streams that once crossed the municipality, only the [[Woluwe]], a [[tributary]] of the [[Senne (river)|Senne]], can still largely be seen today.

==History==

===Middle Ages to 17th century===
The first appearance of the name ''Wolewe'' dates from 1117 and can be found in a charter from [[Forest, Belgium|Forest]]. At that time, the original hamlet and its farms were dependencies of the [[Park Abbey]] near [[Leuven]]. The onset of difficulties can be traced to the middle of the 16th century, with the hostilities waged by King [[Philip II of Spain]] against the heretical [[Protestants]] and the ensuing poverty and famine took their toll on the entire population. Safety and prosperity returned under the reigns of Archdukes [[Albert VII, Archduke of Austria|Albert VII]] and [[Isabella Clara Eugenia|Isabella]] at the beginning of the 17th century. The first grand alley linking [[Tervuren]] to [[Brussels]], then known as the "Street of the Duke", dates from that period.

===18th century until today===
The [[French Revolution]] was also a troubled period for Woluwe-Saint-Pierre. The roads became insecure, the religious freedoms were drastically curtailed, much of the local wild life was exterminated for food, and the lack of coal and wood forced people to use [[peat]] for heating. The local administration gained its independence from Brussels, obtained its first mayor on 26 May and its first municipal council in 1819. The commercial opportunities that opened up to the new municipality marked the start of a new era of wealth. The municipality did not expand very quickly, however, until the last two decades of the 19th century. New roads, such as the [[Avenue de Tervueren|Avenue de Tervueren/Tervurenlaan]], a new train track, imposing mansions, such as the [[Stoclet Palace]], and [[Woluwe Park]], were all built or designed between 1880 and 1910. An important race track, now demolished, was built in 1906. The residential areas came into being right after the [[First World War]] and further urbanisation took place after the [[Second World War]]. Nowadays, agriculture and fisheries, common before 1918, have completely disappeared. The area now depends nearly exclusively on the service sector of the economy.

==Sights==
* The extensive Woluwe Park includes [[giant sequoia]]s, [[Cupressaceae|cypresses]], and a variety of birds such as [[mute swan]]s, [[gull]]s, and [[grey heron]]s.
* The imposing modern Municipal Hall is open to visitors.
* The municipality's main church (Saint Peter) was erected in 1755 on the site of a much older building and perpendicular to it, with funds from [[Forest Abbey]]. Traces of the older building can still be seen on the left of the current church.
* Several turn-of-the-century houses and manors can still be seen today, such as the [[Stoclet Palace]], which was built between 1905 and 1909 on a design by the Austrian architect [[Josef Hoffmann]] for the Belgian financier [[Adolphe Stoclet]], and contains mosaics and paintings by [[Gustav Klimt]].
* The [[Bibliotheca Wittockiana]] houses one of the most prestigious [[bookbinding]] collections in the world.
* The memorial on the {{lang|fr|Avenue Jules-César|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Julius Caesarlaan|italic=no}} to the [[Belgian Volunteer Corps for Korea]], the force sent by Belgium to aid [[South Korea]] during the [[Korean War]] (1950–1953).
* The [[Brussels Tram Museum]] displays a collection of trams and buses of different ages.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:Riviere Woluwe 2006-03-18.jpeg|[[Woluwe]] stream
File:20120923 Brussels PalaisStoclet Hoffmann DSC06725 PtrQs.jpg|[[Stoclet Palace]] by [[Josef Hoffmann]] (1911)
File:Belgique - Bruxelles - Maison Gombert - 02.jpg|Gombert House (1933)
</gallery>

==Famous inhabitants==
* [[Jean Bingen]] (1920–2012), papyrologist and epigrapher died there
* [[Henri, Count of Paris (1933–2019)|Henri d'Orléans, Count of Paris]] (1933–2019), [[pretender]] to the French throne
* [[Eddy Merckx]] (born 1945), professional cyclist, multiple winner of the [[Tour de France]] and [[Giro d'Italia]] in the 1960s and 1970s

==International relations==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Belgium}}

===Twin towns and sister cities===
Woluwe-Saint-Pierre is [[Sister city|twinned]] with:
* {{flagicon|RWA}} Ruyumba, Rwanda
* {{flagicon|KOR}} [[Gangnam-gu]] ([[Seoul]]), South Korea
* {{flagicon|USA}} [[New Iberia, Louisiana]], USA
* {{flagicon|ROM}} [[Pecica]], Romania
* {{flagicon|CHN}} [[Chaoyang, Liaoning|Chaoyang]], China
* {{flagicon|IND}} [[Chennai]], India

==See also==
{{portal|Belgium}}
* [[Woluwe|Woluwe stream]]
* [[Woluwe-Saint-Lambert]] (Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe), an adjacent municipality
* [[Sint-Stevens-Woluwe]]

==References==

===Footnotes===
{{notelist}}

===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{cite book|last=Falkenback|first=Pierre |title=Historique de Woluwe-Saint-Pierre|publisher=Commune de Woluwe-Saint-Pierre|location=Brussels| year=1973|oclc=1419423|language=French}}
* Culot, P. (1996). ''Bibliotheca Wittockiana''. Brussels: Crédit communal, {{ISBN|90-5544-103-1}}.

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* [https://www.woluwe1150.be/ Official site of the municipality], in [[French language|French]], [[Dutch language|Dutch]], and [[English language|English]]
* [http://www.wittockiana.org Official website of the Bibliotheca Wittockiana]

{{Geographic location
|Centre = Woluwe-Saint-Pierre
|N  = [[Woluwe-Saint-Lambert]]
|E  = [[Kraainem]] ([[Flemish Brabant|VBR]])
|SE = [[Tervuren]] ([[Flemish Brabant|VBR]])
|S  = [[Auderghem]]
|W  = [[Etterbeek]]
}}
{{Brussels|state2=expanded}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Woluwe-Saint-Pierre| ]]
[[Category:Municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region]]
[[Category:Populated places in Belgium]]