Uccle

Uccle or Ukkel  is one of the 19 municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium.

History


According to legend, Uccle's church of St. Peter was dedicated by Pope Leo III in the year 803, with Charlemagne and Gerbald, Bishop of Liège, attending the ceremony. During the following centuries, several noble families built their manors and took residency here. The first mention of the name Woluesdal, now evolved into Wolvendael, dates from 1209. In 1467, Isabella of Portugal, wife of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy founded a Franciscan convent on Uccle's territory. Later, Uccle became the judiciary capital of the area including Brussels. Throughout the early stages of its history, however, the village of Uccle always had a predominantly rural character and lived mostly from the products of forestry and agriculture.

At the end of the 18th century, a few years after the French Revolution, Uccle merged with neighbouring territories to become a commune, with its own mayor and municipal assembly. It had to wait until 1828, however, for the Dutch authorities to allow the construction of the first town hall. This was a time of economic prosperity and growth, stimulated by the proximity to the two main roads linking Brussels to the industrial south. A newer and larger town hall was built between 1872 and 1882. Banker and philanthropist Georges Brugmann contributed a lot to the urbanisation of the city just before the turn of the 20th century. In the early 20th century Michel van Gelder introduced a new breed of chicken, the d'Uccle, named after the town. Despite the accelerated rate of construction that took place in the early 20th century, Uccle succeeded in keeping several of its green areas intact, which now attract many of the Brussels area's wealthier inhabitants.

Lying beyond Forest and Ixelles and skirting the Forêt de Soignes, Uccle is Brussel's largest and most southerly commune. Large, 19th-century detached houses with generous gardens make this green and calm suburb a favourite with well-off expatriates, with the art deco area around the Royal Observatory and the fringes of the Forêt de Soignes the two most desirable addresses.

Main sights

 * Uccle is mainly a residential area, but counts a lot of parks and forested areas, such as the Wolvendael Park and the Verrewinkel Woods. Wolvendael is the site of a 1763 castle, owned by a number of notable aristocrats from the 18th to 19th centuries.
 * The municipality is also situated to the immediate west of the Bois de la Cambre (Ter Kamerenbos).
 * St. Job Square and the area near St. Peter's Church and the town hall are two older parts of town, now filled with a happy mix of stores and pubs.
 * Uccle is the site of the Belgian national weather station, the Royal Meteorological Institute: any information on Belgian weather, unless region specific, is described by the statistics recorded in Uccle. Right next door is the Royal Observatory of Belgium.
 * Uccle Cemetery, also known as Dieweg Cemetery, was created following a cholera epidemic in Brussels in 1866. Although burials ended in 1958, the grave of Hergé, the creator of Tintin who died in 1983, can be found here.
 * The Bloemenwerf, a turn of the 20th century (1900) Art Nouveau villa built by architect Henry Van de Velde.
 * Nemo 33 is the second deepest indoor swimming pool in the world.
 * Château de La Fougeraie, built in 1911 for the industrialist Paul Wittouck by the architects Louis Süe and Paul Huillard. Decorated by Gustave Louis Jaulmes.

Education
European School of Brussels I is located in Uccle.

Notable residents

 * Armand Abel, academic and scholar of Islam (1903–1973)
 * Salvatore Adamo, singer, lyricist, poet and novelist (born 1943)
 * Jean Améry, born Hans Maier, author and essayist (1912–1978)
 * Sandrine Blancke, actress (born 1978)
 * Philippe Bogaert, TV producer (born 1971)
 * Roger De Coster, motocross racer (born 1944)
 * Laetitia Darche, model (born 1991)
 * Jaco van Dormael, film director (born 1957)
 * Jef Dutilleux, impressionist painter (1876-1960)
 * M. C. Escher, Dutch graphic artist (1898–1972)
 * Lara Fabian, singer (born 1970)
 * Jean-Michel Folon, artist, illustrator, painter, and sculptor (1934–2005)
 * Martin Gray Warschau ghetto and Holocaust survivor, writer. (born 1922)
 * Pierre Harmel, lawyer, politician, and diplomat (1911–2010)
 * Hergé, comics creator of The Adventures of Tintin (1907–1983)
 * Vincent Kompany, football defender, captain of the Belgian national team (born 1986)
 * Joachim Lafosse, film director (born 1975)
 * Prince Wenzeslaus of Liechtenstein and Prince Rudolf of Liechtenstein, (born 1974 and 1975, resp.)
 * Queen Mathilde of Belgium (born 1973)
 * Marianne Merchez, astronaut (born 1960)
 * Axel Merckx, professional road bicycle racer (born 1972)
 * Philippe Moureaux, politician, senator, and professor of economic history (born 1939)
 * Erik Pevernagie (1939), painter
 * Louis Pevernagie (1904-1970), painter
 * Alizée Poulicek, Miss Universe Belgium 2008 (born 1987)
 * Joseph Raphael, painter (1869–1950)
 * Axelle Red, born Fabienne Demal, singer (born 1968)
 * Sybille de Selys Longchamps, baroness and aristocrat (born 1941)
 * Willy Sommers, crooner (born 1952)
 * Olivier Strebelle, sculptor (born 1927)
 * Jacques Tits, mathematician (born 1930)
 * Henry van de Velde, painter, architect, and interior designer (1863–1957)

Twin cities

 * 🇫🇷 Neuilly-sur-Seine, France