Leopold Park
Encyclopedia
Parc Léopold or Leopoldspark (Dutch
) is a public park located within the Leopold Quarter
(European Quarter
) of Brussels
, adjacent to the Paul-Henri Spaak building
, the seat of the European Parliament
.
The 10-hectare (25 acre) park was opened to the public in 1880 after the unpopular Royal Zoological Garden (Jardin Royal de Zoologie) had been removed. During the following years, a campus for the famous Solvay School of Commerce was established in the park but construction of additional buildings was soon curtailed for fear of encroachment on the park and its fragile wildlife. The buildings have remained to this day but only one still belongs to Solvay (and houses the Solvay Conference
). The building of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
is also located in the park.
The Library of Solvay is also located in the park and houses the think tanks Security & Defence Agenda
, Friends of Europe
and Maison d'Europe.
The park's outstanding feature is its pond, fed by the Maalbeek stream. Many rare trees (remnants of a botanic garden) and animals such as mallard
s, moorhens
, coot
s, and even Egyptian geese
and rose-ringed parakeets
thrive in this urban environment.
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
) is a public park located within the Leopold Quarter
Leopold Quarter
The Leopold Quarter is a quarter of Brussels, Belgium. Today the term is sometimes confused with European Quarter, as the area has come to be dominated by the institutions of the European Union and organisations dealing with them, although the two terms are not in fact the same, with the Leopold...
(European Quarter
Brussels and the European Union
Brussels is considered to be the de facto capital of the European Union, having a long history of hosting the institutions of the European Union within its European Quarter...
) of Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, adjacent to the Paul-Henri Spaak building
Espace Léopold
The Espace Léopold or is the complex of parliament buildings in Brussels housing the European Parliament, a legislative chamber of the European Union ....
, the seat of the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
.
The 10-hectare (25 acre) park was opened to the public in 1880 after the unpopular Royal Zoological Garden (Jardin Royal de Zoologie) had been removed. During the following years, a campus for the famous Solvay School of Commerce was established in the park but construction of additional buildings was soon curtailed for fear of encroachment on the park and its fragile wildlife. The buildings have remained to this day but only one still belongs to Solvay (and houses the Solvay Conference
Solvay Conference
The International Solvay Institutes for Physics and Chemistry, located in Brussels, were founded by the Belgian industrialist Ernest Solvay in 1912, following the historic invitation-only 1911 Conseil Solvay, the turning point in world physics...
). The building of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
The Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences is a museum in the Belgian capital of Brussels dedicated to natural history. Its most important pieces are 30 fossilized Iguanodon skeletons, which were discovered in 1878 in Bernissart. The dinosaur hall of the museum is the world's largest museum...
is also located in the park.
The Library of Solvay is also located in the park and houses the think tanks Security & Defence Agenda
Security & Defence Agenda
The Security & Defence Agenda is Brussels' only dedicated security and defence think-tank. Its activities include roundtables, lunch and evening debates, policymakers’ dinners, international conferences and a range of publications.-History:...
, Friends of Europe
Friends of Europe
Friends of Europe is a Brussels-based, not-for-profit think tank for European Union policy analysis and debate.-History:The organisation, established in 1999, has no political or national allegiance and is independent of the EU institutions...
and Maison d'Europe.
The park's outstanding feature is its pond, fed by the Maalbeek stream. Many rare trees (remnants of a botanic garden) and animals such as mallard
Mallard
The Mallard , or Wild Duck , is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand and Australia....
s, moorhens
Common Moorhen
The Common Moorhen is a bird in the Rallidae family with an almost worldwide distribution. The North and South American Committees of the AOU and the IOC have voted on or before July 2011 to split the American forms into a new species Common Gallinule, however, no other committee has voted to...
, coot
Coot
Coots are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family Rallidae. They constitute the genus Fulica. Coots have predominantly black plumage, and, unlike many of the rails, they are usually easy to see, often swimming in open water...
s, and even Egyptian geese
Egyptian Goose
The Egyptian Goose is a member of the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae. It is in the shelduck subfamily Tadorninae, and is the only extant member of the genus Alopochen...
and rose-ringed parakeets
Rose-ringed Parakeet
The Rose-ringed Parakeet , also known as the Ringnecked Parakeet, is a gregarious tropical parakeet species that has an extremely large range. Since the trend of the population appears to be increasing, the species has been evaluated as Least Concern by IUCN in 2009.Rose-ringed parakeets are...
thrive in this urban environment.