Square Sainctelette
.jpg) Looking west towards the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in the background | |
  Location within Brussels   Square Sainctelette (Belgium) | |
| Location | City of Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium |
|---|---|
| Quarter | Quays or Sainte-Catherine/Sint-Katelijne Quarter |
| Coordinates | 50°51′20″N 04°20′49″E / 50.85556°N 4.34694°E |
| Construction | |
| Completion | 1911 |
The Square Sainctelette (French, pronounced [skwaʁ sɛ̃t.lɛt]) or Sainctelettesquare (Dutch) is a square in the City of Brussels municipality of Brussels, Belgium. It is named in honour of Charles-Xavier Sainctelette, a former Belgian minister for public works.
The square lies along the Brussels–Charleroi Canal, on the border with the Molenbeek-Saint-Jean municipality, from which it is separated by the canal. This area is served by Yser/IJzer metro station on lines 2 and 6 of the Brussels Metro.
History
[edit]Early history
[edit]The Square Sainctelette, named after Belgian minister for public works Charles-Xavier Sainctelette (1825–1898), was constructed in 1911 together with the Quai du Commerce/Handelskaai, the Boulevard de Dixmude/Diksmuidelaan, the Boulevard d'Ypres/Ieperlaan and the Place de l'Yser/Ijzerplein. The area, forming the northern part of the Quays or Sainte-Catherine/Sint-Katelijne Quarter, was known for its wholesale shops, fruit and vegetable auctions and market halls. These were active until the 1970s. At the end of the 1960s, there was an increase in Mediterranean wholesalers.
The square is surrounded by apartment buildings in Art Deco and Haussmann-esque style. The Citroën Garage was built in the early 1930s in modernist style. Next to the Citroën Garage is the Kaaitheater, a theatre built in Art Deco and modernist styles that was known as the Lunatheater in the early 1930s.
Below the square is Sainctelette metro station, which has never been opened.
21st century
[edit]The Square Sainctelette has a mixture of residential and office buildings, with culture represented by the Kaaitheater and Citroën Garage, which has been converted into the KANAL – Centre Pompidou museum of modern and contemporary art. As a traffic axis, the square, located in the north-western corner of Brussels' Pentagon (French: Pentagone, Dutch: Vijfhoek), is part of the Small Ring (Brussels' inner ring road).
In 2019, the square was voted the most dangerous intersection in Brussels in an online poll carried out by the Dutch-language Brussels broadcaster BRUZZ.[1] In the same year, plans were completed for a drastic redesign of the square.[2] At the beginning of 2022, an application was made to transform the square into a contiguous space with the Place de l'Yser.[3]
On 16 October 2023, an intersection and building just off the square were the scene of a terrorist attack in which two Swedish football supporters were killed by a gunman and a third injured.[4]
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Sainctelette Bridge -
Kaaitheater -
.jpg)
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ "Dit zijn volgens jou de gevaarlijkste kruispunten van Brussel". www.bruzz.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 10 June 2025.
- ^ "Dit wordt het nieuwe Sainctelette". www.bruzz.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 10 June 2025.
- ^ "Vergunning aangevraagd voor langverwachte heraanleg 'zwart punt' Sainctelette". www.bruzz.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 10 June 2025.
- ^ "Brussels shooting: Police shoot dead attacker who killed Swedes". BBC News. 17 October 2023.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Square Sainctelette/Sainctelettesquare, Brussels at Wikimedia Commons- Sainctelettesquare (Inventaris Bouwkundig Erfgoed)
