Maalbeek

The House of European History (HEH) is a museum in Brussels, Belgium focusing on the history of Europe. The permanent exhibition begins with the myth of the goddess Europa, delving into Europe's ancient roots and the continent's heritage of shared traditions and achievements, before continuing through Europe's dramatic journey towards modernity in the 19th century and the rebuilding process following World War II. The final section challenges visitors to critically assess European history, its potential and its future. By interpreting history from a European perspective, it connects and compares shared experiences and their diverse interpretations. It aims to initiate learning on transnational perspectives across Europe. The museum is an initiative by the European Parliament, and was proposed by then-president Hans-Gert Pöttering in 2007; it opened on 6 May 2017. As a cultural institution and exhibition centre, the House of European History intends to promote the understanding of European history and European integration, through a permanent exhibition and temporary and travelling exhibitions. The museum houses a collection of objects and documents representative of European history, educational programs, cultural events and publications, as well as a wide range of online content. It is located in the Eastman Building in Leopold Park, close to the European institutions.

Leopold Park (French: Parc Léopold, Dutch: Leopoldspark) is a public park of 6.43 ha (15.9 acres) located within the Leopold Quarter (European Quarter) of Brussels, Belgium. It is adjacent to the Paul-Henri Spaak building, the seat of the European Parliament. It is served by the metro stations Maalbeek/Maelbeek and Schuman on lines 1 and 5 of the Brussels metro. The outstanding feature of the park is its pond, fed by the Maelbeek stream. Many rare trees (remnants of a botanic garden) and animals such as mallards, moorhens, coots, and even Egyptian geese and rose-ringed parakeets thrive in this urban environment.

Brussels (Belgium) is considered the de facto capital of the European Union, having a long history of hosting a number of principal EU institutions within its European Quarter. The EU has no official capital, and no plans to declare one, but Brussels hosts the official seats of the European Commission, Council of the European Union, and European Council, as well as a seat (officially the second seat but de facto the most important one) of the European Parliament. In 2013, this presence generated about 250 million euros (8.3% of the regional GDP) and 121,000 jobs (16.7% of the regional employment).

The Place Jean Rey (Dutch: Jean Reyplein) is a square in the European Quarter of Brussels, Belgium. It was inaugurated in 2001 and is named after Jean Rey (1902–1983), the second President of the European Commission. The headquarters of some of the major EU institutions are located on or close to this square, including those of the Council and the Parliament.

The Jacques Delors building, at 99-101 rue Belliard in the European Quarter of Brussels, houses the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. It sits between the Rue Belliard (Belliardstraat) and Leopold Park and was formerly called the Belliard building. It housed the Brussels activities of the European Parliament until the 1990s, when these functions were moved to the new Espace Léopold. In the 2000s, the building was renovated for use by the two Committees. In 2006, it was renamed "Jacques Delors" (abbreviated 'JDE'), after Jacques Delors, former President of the European Commission, who was the most prominent founder of the Committee of the Regions.

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is a consultative body of the European Union (EU) established in 1958. It is an advisory assembly composed of "social partners", namely: employers (employers' organisations), employees (trade unions) and representatives of various other interests. Its seat, which it shares with the Committee of the Regions, is the Jacques Delors building on Belliardstraat / Rue Belliard 99 in Brussels. Once known by the acronym "EcoSoc", the body is now referred to as the "EESC", to avoid confusions with the United Nations ECOSOC.

The Espace Léopold (French; commonly used in English) or Leopoldruimte (Dutch; listen ) is the complex of parliament buildings in Brussels, Belgium, housing the European Parliament, a legislative chamber of the European Union (EU). It consists of a number of buildings, primarily the oldest, the Paul-Henri Spaak building, which houses the debating chamber and the President's offices, and the Altiero Spinelli building, which is the largest. The buildings are located in the European Quarter of Brussels, with construction starting in 1989. The complex is not the official seat of the European Parliament, which is the Louise Weiss building in Strasbourg, France, but as most of the other institutions of the European Union are in Brussels, the Parliament built the Brussels complex to be closer to its activities. A majority of the Parliament's work is now geared to its Brussels site, but it is legally bound to keep Strasbourg as its official home.

The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is the European Union's (EU) assembly of local and regional representatives that provides sub-national authorities (i.e. regions, counties, provinces, municipalities and cities) with a direct voice within the EU's institutional framework. Established in 1994, the CoR was set up to address two main issues. First, about three quarters of EU legislation is implemented at local or regional level, so local and regional representatives needed to have a say in the development of new EU laws. Second, there were concerns about a widening gap between the public and the process of European integration; involving the elected level of government closest to the citizens was one way of closing the gap.

The Convent Van Maerlant is a former convent which consists of a church and the Chapel of the Resurrection on Rue Van Maerlant/Van Maerlantstraat in Brussels, Belgium. Jacob van Maerlant was a famous medieval Flemish poet. The original chapel was built in 1435 in the authority of a Papal Bull, and was renovated in the 1780s. The convent of the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration itself was converted from a Ducal town house in the early 1850s. In 1905, a compulsory purchase order for land for Brussels Central Station was made on Rue des Sols/Stuiversstraat, and this included the convent. As a result, a virtually identical chapel was built, which survived for another 45 years, only finally being demolished in 1955. Falling vocations meant the convent was closed in the early 1980s, and after standing derelict for nearly 20 years, it was acquired to become the central library of the European Commission. This is the only pre-WW2 building to be left standing in the area after the entry of European institutions.

The Chapel of the Resurrection (French: Chapelle de la Résurrection, Dutch: Verrijzeniskapel) or Chapel for Europe is a Roman Catholic church with an ecumenical vocation located in the heart of the Brussels' European Quarter (City of Brussels municipality), next to the former Convent Van Maerlant. A precursor of this church, which dated back to the 15th century, was situated in the city centre, but demolished in the course of urban development in 1907. Instead, a replica, externally true to the original, was built at its present location. In 2001, after substantial renovation, the church received its present name and took on its present ecumenical character.

The Museum of Natural Sciences of Belgium (French: Muséum des sciences naturelles de Belgique, Dutch: Museum voor Natuurwetenschappen van België) is a museum dedicated to natural history, located in Brussels, Belgium. The museum is a part of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. Its most important pieces are 30 fossilised Iguanodon skeletons, which were discovered in 1878 in Bernissart, Belgium. The dinosaur hall of the museum is the world's largest museum hall completely dedicated to dinosaurs. Another famous piece is the Ishango bone, which was discovered in 1960 by Jean de Heinzelin de Braucourt in the Belgian Congo. The museum also houses a research department and a public exhibit department.

The Justus Lipsius building, located in Brussels, Belgium, was the headquarters of the Council of the European Union from 1995, and the de facto home of the European Council from 2002 (de jure as of 2004), until their relocation to the adjacent newly constructed Europa building at the beginning of 2017. The building, which has a gross surface area of 227,278 m2, still provides for additional meeting rooms, office space and press facilities for both institutions. It consists of 17 conference rooms with at least 10 interpretation booths each, 5 other meeting rooms and 2 rooms for official meals. It also provides 40,048 m2 of offices for both institutions' shared General Secretariat. An onsite press centre is also featured, which can be extended during summits with up to 600 seats in the atrium. It is linked, via means of two skyways and a service tunnel, to the Europa building.