Walks · Brussels · English
4 narrated stops, 12 minutes of stories, 1.8 km on foot. Press play at each stop — no app needed — or open the walk in Avsha and let the stories keep coming as you move.
Stop 1 · 3 min
In short: Deep under Place Loix sits a decommissioned 1875 water reservoir known as the Water Cathedral. It is a vast brickwork labyrinth featuring over five hundred pillars and groined vaults that once stored fifteen million liters of water.
↓ 450 m · 6 min to the next stop
Stop 2 · 3 min
In short: Beneath Rue Dejoncker lies the Maelbeek stream, which was forced into tunnels and paved over during the nineteenth century. Today, a massive brick collector sewer runs deep under the pavement, carrying the water toward the Senne.
↓ 600 m · 8 min to the next stop
Stop 3 · 3 min
In short: Rue Veydt features the Hôtel Tassel, the world's first Art Nouveau house built by Victor Horta in 1893. The area also served as a Nazi administrative center where pilot Jean de Selys Longchamps strafed the Gestapo headquarters in 1943.
↓ 750 m · 10 min to the next stop
Stop 4 · 3 min
In short: In the 18th century, this gate served as the destination for camel caravans arriving from Timbuktu. Traders unloaded goods like gold dust, salt, and ostrich feathers here to be shipped from the harbor to European markets in London and Marseille.