Palais de Justice, Brussels

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The law courts of the Palais de Justice were commissioned by King Leopold ll. Constructed between 1866 - 83 and designed by the architect Joseph Poelaert who subsequently died from exhaustion. Designed intentionally to dwarf all other buildings in a mix of styles borrowed from nearly every period of Belgian architecture. Built on the site of the former gallows (well they do say Justice will follow through) the law courts became a symbol of Belguims industrial and colonial achievements. When we visited, the building was under massive restoration more or less obscuring all details with scaffolding. The spledid dome was restored so at least one picture shows the beauty of the courts.
Open Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm closed July guided tours are by written request only admission free unless of course you happen to be on trial here!

The law courts were constructed in the late 1800's. The building dwarfs all the surrounding structures and was built with a multitude of architectural styles. It was built on the site of the former town gallows. It also contains a memorial to the missing children of Belgium, which can't help but give you the shivers, especially if you are a parent.

It was the largest building in the world when it was finished in 1883 and opened by King Leopold II, and I think it might still be the biggest in Europe. It totally dominates the cliff it is built on and that is precisely the point. Below the cliff you find 'les Marolles' which was the poor working-class area of Brussels. There people had to look up to the masters. Today, Marolles is an interesting mix of immigrants and yuppies and loads of interesting small shops but as you wander there, you're still in the shadow of the palace (see picture). A few years ago, during one of the worst pedofile scandals Europe has ever seen, the stairs to the main entrance were filled with flowers, teddy bears and pictures of the children and there is almost always some kind of note about some tragic case or other being dealt with within its huge stone walls. This picture is from before it was restored and got the cupola all gold plated - now it is even easier to spot all over town. If you want to see a smaller copy of it, head for Lima where they've built a replica.

As the facade was under repair when I visited it in december 2006, I couldn't fully appreciate the full glory of this building but got speechless when I entered it. The inside is so grand...I felt intimidated and did not take any pictures of the inside.

There is a postoffice on the right inside of the building. From there, have a look at the grand Graeco-Roman style staircases.

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We were stunned at the size of the Palace of Justice, just how many criminals does Brussels have? Sitting atop a hill known as "gallows hill" where they executed people back in the middle ages, the Palace of Justice was a project of Leopold II and is purportedly larger than St. Peter's in Rome! It's placement overlooking the Marolles, the poorest neighborhood in Brussels, was intentional, a looming reminder of what fate had in store for you if you didn't behave.

The architect, Joseph Poelaert, died during it's construction and legend says that witchcraft played a hand in his death from the many Marolles residents evicted in order to buildthe massive law courts.

We passed by here on a Saturday when the building was closed, the guidebook says you can visit the interior for free on Monday-Friday from 8am-5pm (or 9am-11:30am and 1:30pm-3pm if you believe my other guidebook). You can take the glass elevator from Place Breugel to Place Poelaert and vice versa get a nice view over Brussels, also free.

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The Palais de Justice was designed by Joseph Poelaert and built between 1866 and 1893 on the hill where the gallows stood in medieval times. Covering a larger area than St. Peter's in Rome, this building was that largest constructed in Brussels during the 19th century.

This massive building overlooks the entire city of Brussels. From here are some of the best panoramas of the city in all directions.

The huge "palace" was built in the late 1800s, and it certainly looks it... during my visit, much of the building was under construction and the rest of it needed some upkeep.... I seem to recall broken windows, graffiti, boarded up doors, and crumbling stone....

However, this is still the home of Belgium's highest courts, so a very powerful symbol.

I saw amazing photos of the building on the photo but when I was in the city, the palace was under reconstruction unfortunately. The building was been built in 1860-1880 Poelaert architect as the biggest building in the world for those times.