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Meise Botanic Garden

Botanical gardens in BelgiumGardens in FlandersGeography of Flemish BrabantGreenhousesTourist attractions in Flemish Brabant
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Meise Botanic Garden (Dutch: Plantentuin Meise; French: Jardin botanique de Meise), until 2014 called the National Botanic Garden of Belgium (Dutch: Nationale Plantentuin van België; French: Jardin botanique national de Belgique), is a botanical garden located in the grounds of Bouchout Castle in Meise, Flemish Brabant, just north of Brussels. It is one of the world's largest botanical gardens, with an extensive collection of living plants and a herbarium of about 4 million specimens. The current garden was established in 1958 after moving from central Brussels; the former site is now the Botanical Garden of Brussels. Meise Botanic Garden contains about 18,000 plant species — about 6% of all the world's known plant species. Half are in greenhouses, the other half, including cultivated and indigenous plants, are outdoors. The Index Herbariorum code assigned to this botanic garden is BR, which is used when citing housed specimens. The botanic garden's mission statement specifies increasing and spreading "the knowledge of plants" and contributions to "the conservation of biodiversity". Research at the garden is primarily conducted on Belgian and African biodiversity (including plants, fungi, myxomycetes, and diatoms). Meise Botanic Garden was property of the Belgian government, but after several years of negotiations, it was eventually transferred to the Flemish Community effective 1 January 2014. The French Community still has its own employees and representation in the board of directors. The plants, library, etc. remain property of the state, but are given as commodate to the Flemish Community.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Meise Botanic Garden (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Meise Botanic Garden
Engelse Brug, Wemmel

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N 50.928358 ° E 4.327383 °
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1780 Wemmel
Flemish Brabant, Belgium
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Bouchout Castle
Bouchout Castle

Bouchout Castle (Dutch: Kasteel van Bouchout) is a castle in the Flemish town of Meise, Belgium. In the 12th century, this territory of the young Duchy of Brabant was strategically positioned between the County of Flanders and the Berthout family, lords of Grimbergen. Most likely, the first fortification was built by Wouter van Craaynem at the end of the Grimbergen Wars (1150–1170). Bouchout Castle is situated at an altitude of 32 meters. At about 1300, the Donjon tower of Bouchout Castle was erected by Daniel van Bouchout, a knight who fought gloriously at the Battle of Worringen. In the 15th and 16th century, Bouchout Castle was owned by the Van der Marck and van Sevenbergen sayd Transylvanus families. The castle fell into disrepair due to lack of maintenance, while the Spanish dominance and the iconoclastic fury further worsened its condition. The first major renovation was performed by Christoffel d'Assonville at about 1600. The rectangular medieval Bouchout Castle was surrounded by a large pond and could only be reached by a long drawbridge. At the end of the 17th century, Peter-Ferdinand Roose transformed the castle into a Renaissance "Chateau de Bouchout", surrounded with French ornamental gardens. Unfortunately, the castle was partly destroyed during the French Revolution period (1800–1830). Again, the castle was restored in 1832 by count Amadeus de Beauffort, who gave Bouchout Castle its current Neo-Gothic appearance. From 1879 until 1927, Empress Carlota of Mexico, born Princess Charlotte of Belgium, lived at the Bouchout Domain. Her husband Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, head of the Second Mexican Empire, was executed by Mexican republicans in 1867. Thereafter Charlotte led a secluded life at Bouchout Castle. Since 1939, the Bouchout Domain has developed into the National Botanic Garden of Belgium. Since the last renovation of 1987–1989, the castle and its rooms are now being used for meetings, lectures and exhibitions.

Heysel Plateau
Heysel Plateau

The Heysel Plateau (French: Plateau du Heysel, Dutch: Heizelplateau) or Heysel Park (French: Parc du Heysel, Dutch: Heizelpark), usually shortened to Heysel (French: [ɛzɛl]) or Heizel (Dutch: [ˈɦɛizəl] (listen)), is a neighbourhood, park and exhibition space in Laeken, northern Brussels, Belgium, where the Brussels International Exposition of 1935 and the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (Expo 58) took place. The Atomium, a symbolic 103-metre-tall (338 ft) modernist structure, originally built for Expo 58, is the most impressive monument on the Heysel Plateau and is now considered a landmark of Brussels. Opposite it, the Centenary Palace is one of the lasting remaining buildings of the 1935 World's Fair. It was also the venue for the 32nd Eurovision Song Contest in 1987. Currently, it is home to the Brussels Exhibition Centre (Brussels Expo), the city's most important event complex in Belgium and the largest exhibition space in the Benelux.The Heysel Plateau was also the location of the Heysel Stadium, Belgium's former national stadium, originally built in 1930. After the Heysel Stadium disaster of 1985, which claimed the lives of 39 spectators at the European Cup final, it was demolished and in its place was built the more modern and secure King Baudouin Stadium. The Bruparck entertainment park (with among others Mini-Europe miniature park and Kinepolis cinema) and the Planetarium of the Royal Observatory of Belgium are also located there, as is the Palais 12/Paleis 12, a large and modern multiuse indoor arena with a maximum capacity of 15,000 people. This site is served by Heysel/Heizel metro station on line 6 of the Brussels Metro.