The best running trails around Molenbeek-Saint-Jean - Sint-Jans-Molenbeek

The Coudenberg neighbourhood in Brussels is a historically significant area on a hill that served as the seat of counts, dukes, and emperors (including Charles V) from the 12th to the 18th century. After a fire in 1731, the palace was destroyed and rebuilt over; today, visitors can explore the underground archaeological foundations of the old palace beneath Place Royale and the Royal Palace.

First, a thought about the information panel 'Godevaart van Bullioen - First King of Jerusalem'. Did you think the King of Jerusalem was JESUS? Historical info about the statue: since 1848, the equestrian statue of Godfrey of Bouillon has graced Brussels' Royal Square. The bronze artwork was made by the Liège sculptor Eugène Simonis (1810-1882). The recently independent Belgium wanted to stimulate national feeling by remembering one of the leaders of the First Crusade (1096-1099). But who was this Godfrey, and how was he immortalized in the Brussels cityscape? Find out on the website https://historiek.net/godfried-van-bouillon-leider-eerste-kruistocht/70021/

Godfrey of Bouillon, honored here as an equestrian statue, takes us back in time to the late 11th century; geographically, however, to the town of Bouillon, then the seat of the Duchy of Lower Lorraine (of which he was Duke) and today part of Neufchâteau in Wallonia, where a monument is also dedicated to him (if interested, see =>> https://www.komoot.com/de-de/highlight/5853588 ). In the second geographical perspective, however, this man takes us much farther away, across the Mediterranean to the Holy Land. He participated as a leading figure in the First Crusade and the conquest of Jerusalem. After the city's capture, he was to become king of the crusader kingdom of Jerusalem, but he rejected such a title, arguing that the only king over Jerusalem could be Christ himself, who was crucified and buried here—and resurrected.

Go around the up-tower. the highest residential tower in Belgium (+-130m)

First appearing in 1967 in Sergent Kirk magazine, the adventures of Corto Maltese were published in Italy by writer and illustrator Hugo Pratt. By 1970, the series had been translated into several languages and distributed throughout Europe, notably by the French magazine Pif Gadget starting in 1970, and then by the publisher Casterman for the French translation of the albums, the first of which appeared in 1975. It features a solitary hero who encounters different cultures and traditions. Unlike many comic book characters, Corto Maltese is anchored in a timeline: we know his past, and he grows older. Born on July 10, 1887, in Malta, to a Gypsy mother sometimes described as a prostitute and a Royal Navy sailor father, he himself became a sailor in 1904 and then a pirate a few years later. He sailed the world until 1925. Elusive and attached to his independence, he observed the world with detachment. He met characters inspired by real events but reinterpreted (Stalin is a hotel porter, Rasputin is a wandering criminal) and seduced numerous women, whom he always ended up leaving, like sailors navigating in a male-dominated world where women had no place. Intrigued by numerous myths and legends, Corto Maltese set out in search of El Dorado, the Seven Cities of Cibola, the treasure of Alexander the Great, and even Atlantis. The eventful story of Corto Maltese is inspired by that of its author, who knew how to construct his own legend and play with the tenuous space that separates reality and fiction in the description of his life and his work. Born in Italy, Hugo Pratt (1927-1995) joined his father in the Italian army in Abyssinia (present-day Ethiopia) at the age of 10, before joining the colonial police three years later to suppress Ethiopian independence fighters. When Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie regained control of the country in 1941, his father was taken prisoner and died a few months later, while Hugo Pratt and his mother were repatriated to Italy after being imprisoned in a camp. He was then forcibly conscripted by the Nazi forces, before escaping and joining the Allies. After the war, Hugo Pratt began working for various comics, notably British War Comics, and collaborated with Dino Battaglia and Alberto Ongaro to form the Venice group in Argentina. Like his hero, Hugo Pratt traveled extensively and formed relationships with several women in different parts of the world, with whom he had several children. Derived from several Corto Maltese albums, the largest fresco in the Comic Strip Trail is composed of four sections, the first of which, taken from the album Les Celtiques (1980), was inaugurated during "Brussels the Baths," a festive attraction located along the Brussels canal, transformed into an urban beach for a few weeks.

At lunchtime it's perfect for jogging or running training!

The Church of Our Lady of Laeken is a 19th-century neo-Gothic church located at the end of the Avenue de la Reine in Laeken. Built on the initiative of Leopold I to receive the mortal remains of his wife Queen Louise-Marie of Orléans, it houses the royal crypt and has since served as a necropolis for the Belgian royal family. It is one of the four parishes of the Joseph Cardijn Pastoral Unit.

The Church of Our Lady is a parish church in the Belgian city of Laken in the Brussels-Capital Region. The church is located at the end of the Saint-Annedreef. At the other end is the Saint-Anne source (1622) with Saint-Anne chapel from the 15th century, in the Park of Laken.