:Woluwe-Saint-Pierre

{{Short description|Municipality of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium}}

{{Use British English|date=December 2022}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}

{{Infobox Belgium municipality

|namefr = Woluwe-Saint-Pierre

|namenl = Sint-Pieters-Woluwe

|picture = Maison Communale Woluwe.jpg

|picture-legend = Woluwe Saint-Pierre's Municipal Hall

|map = Woluwe-Saint-Pierre Brussels-Capital Belgium Map.svg

|map-legend = Woluwe-Saint-Pierre municipality in the Brussels-Capital Region

|arms = Greater Coat of arms Woluwe-Saint-Pierre.svg

|flag = Flag of Sint-Pieters-Woluwe.svg

|flag_link = Symbols of Brussels#Municipalities

|arms_link = Symbols of Brussels#Municipalities

|region = {{BE-REG-BRU}}

|community = {{BE-FR}}
{{BE-NL}}

|province =

|arrondissement = Brussels-Capital

|nis = 21019

|pyramid-date=

|0-19=

|20-64=

|65=

|foreigners=

|foreigners-date=

|mayor = Benoît Cerexhe (LB)

|majority = LB, Ecolo-Groen, DéFI

|postal-codes = 1150

|telephone-area = 02

|web = [http://www.woluwe1150.be/ www.woluwe1150.be]

|coordinates = {{coord|50|50|N|04|28|E|region:BE|display=inline,title}}

}}

Woluwe-Saint-Pierre (French, {{IPA|fr|wolywe sɛ̃ pjɛʁ|pron|Brussels_Communes_Audio_Wikipedia_-_Woluwe_Saint-Pierre.wav}}){{efn|Woluwe-Saint-Pierre is sometimes also spelled Woluwé-Saint-Pierre in French, with an accent on the first "e". Though the first version (without an accent) is the official version, the second one fits more the French pronunciation.}} or Sint-Pieters-Woluwe (Dutch, {{IPA|nl|sɪnt ˈpitərs ˈʋoːlyu.ə|pron|Nl-Sint-Pieters-Woluwe.ogg}}) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the eastern part of the region, it is bordered by Etterbeek, Auderghem and Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, as well as the Flemish municipalities of Kraainem and Tervuren. In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch).

{{As of|2022|1|1}}, the municipality had a population of 42,216 inhabitants.{{cite web|title=Molenbeek-Saint-Jean {{!}} IBSA|url=https://ibsa.brussels/chiffres/chiffres-cles-par-commune/molenbeek-saint-jean|access-date=2021-09-24|website=ibsa.brussels}} The total area is {{convert|8.94|km2||abbr=on}}, which gives a population density of {{convert|4722|PD/km2||abbr=on}}. It is mostly a well-to-do residential area, which includes the wide, park-lined, Avenue de Tervueren/Tervurenlaan, and the numerous embassies located near the Square Maréchal Montgomery/Maarschalk Montgomeryplein. Of the three streams that once crossed the municipality, only the Woluwe, a tributary of the Senne, can still largely be seen today.

History

=Middle Ages to 17th century=

The first appearance of the name Wolewe dates from 1117 and can be found in a charter from Forest. At that time, the original hamlet and its farms were dependencies of the Park Abbey near Leuven. The onset of difficulties can be traced to the middle of the 16th century, with the hostilities waged by King Philip II of Spain against the heretical Protestants and the ensuing poverty and famine took their toll on the entire population. Safety and prosperity returned under the reigns of Archdukes Albert VII and Isabella at the beginning of the 17th century. The first grand alley linking Tervuren to Brussels, then known as the "Street of the Duke", dates from that period.

=18th century until today=

The French Revolution was also a troubled period for Woluwe-Saint-Pierre. The roads became insecure, the religious freedoms were drastically curtailed, much of the local wild life was exterminated for food, and the lack of coal and wood forced people to use peat for heating. The local administration gained its independence from Brussels, obtained its first mayor on 26 May and its first municipal council in 1819. The commercial opportunities that opened up to the new municipality marked the start of a new era of wealth. The municipality did not expand very quickly, however, until the last two decades of the 19th century. New roads, such as the Avenue de Tervueren/Tervurenlaan, a new train track, imposing mansions, such as the Stoclet Palace, and Woluwe Park, were all built or designed between 1880 and 1910. An important race track, now demolished, was built in 1906. The residential areas came into being right after the First World War and further urbanisation took place after the Second World War. Nowadays, agriculture and fisheries, common before 1918, have completely disappeared. The area now depends nearly exclusively on the service sector of the economy.

Sights

  • The extensive Woluwe Park includes giant sequoias, cypresses, and a variety of birds such as mute swans, gulls, and grey herons.
  • The imposing modern Municipal Hall is open to visitors.
  • The municipality's main church (Saint Peter) was erected in 1755 on the site of a much older building and perpendicular to it, with funds from Forest Abbey. Traces of the older building can still be seen on the left of the current church.
  • Several turn-of-the-century houses and manors can still be seen today, such as the Stoclet Palace, which was built between 1905 and 1909 on a design by the Austrian architect Josef Hoffmann for the Belgian financier Adolphe Stoclet, and contains mosaics and paintings by Gustav Klimt.
  • The Bibliotheca Wittockiana houses one of the most prestigious bookbinding collections in the world.
  • The memorial on the {{lang|fr|Avenue Jules-César|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Julius Caesarlaan|italic=no}} to the Belgian Volunteer Corps for Korea, the force sent by Belgium to aid South Korea during the Korean War (1950–1953).
  • The Brussels Tram Museum displays a collection of trams and buses of different ages.

File:Riviere Woluwe 2006-03-18.jpeg|Woluwe stream

File:20120923 Brussels PalaisStoclet Hoffmann DSC06725 PtrQs.jpg|Stoclet Palace by Josef Hoffmann (1911)

File:Belgique - Bruxelles - Maison Gombert - 02.jpg|Gombert House (1933)

Famous inhabitants

International relations

{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Belgium}}

=Twin towns and sister cities=

Woluwe-Saint-Pierre is twinned with:

See also

{{portal|Belgium}}

References

=Footnotes=

{{notelist}}

=Citations=

{{reflist}}

=Bibliography=

  • {{cite book|last=Falkenback|first=Pierre |title=Historique de Woluwe-Saint-Pierre|publisher=Commune de Woluwe-Saint-Pierre|location=Brussels| year=1973|oclc=1419423|language=French}}
  • Culot, P. (1996). Bibliotheca Wittockiana. Brussels: Crédit communal, {{ISBN|90-5544-103-1}}.