When visiting the Coudenberg Palace in 1520, Albrecht Durer wrote: “Behind the King’s House in Brussels, I saw fountains, a maze and hunting grounds. Never in my life had I seen anything as entertaining and pleasant. It’s like paradise.”
Thirty years later, Juan Christobal Calvete de Estrella, when inspecting the palace for a royal visit describes it as “truly royal, large enough to house the emperor, princes, queens and ladies of the court together with all the serving officers”.
The palace consisted of a chapel, royal appartments, a banqueting hall, kitchens, administrative offices, … It contained a vineyard, an orangerie, a list field for jousting, a tennis court, hunting grounds, flower gardens, several walled gardens with fountains and artificial grottoes.
The development of this paradise started in the 11th century with a castle. Originally, the palace started as a fort, and was part of the first defensive wall of Brussels. When a second wall was constructed in the 14th century, the Coudenberg lost its military function and the castle was gradually transformed into a palace.
When Brussels became the capital city of the Low Countries, the Dukes of Burgundy and later the Habsburgs adopted the palace as residence. Charles V, the monarch on whose empire the sun never set, but who spent 28 years of his life in the Low Countries, used it as one of his main residences. He was emancipated in it in 1515, and choose it as the location for his abdication in 1555.
Other historic events in the palace include the accession to governance of the Low Countries by Mary of Hungary and the wedding feast of Alexander Farnese.
The palace was mostly destroyed by fire in 1731 and its Gothic remains were taken down four decades to make place for the Royal District, a neo-classical urban development. What remains of the palace is an underground complex that was excavated in 1985.
We can have a good image of what the palace looked like since it shows up in many paintings, drawings and maps. Some of these can be viewed in the Brussels City Museum. This includes even paintings of the interior of the palace, e.g. the Aula Magna and the Chapel, as well as of some of the historic events that took place on its premises.
The visit of the underground complex takes you through the royal apartments, the chapel, the gardens, the Aula magna, Rue Isabelle and ends with the Hoogstraten-Lalaing house. You’ll need lots of imagination to picture Dürer’s paradise on earth, but lively explanations, pictures and even a model of the Palace help you.
Count at least one hour for a quick visit, and 2 hours for a leisure visit. On the premise, there is a great bookshop and a museum cafeteria where you can enjoy a salad buffet based on local products. The facilities and entrance are shared with the BelVue museum (dedicated to the history of Belgium as a country).
