Place Anneessens

Together with the seven streets that lead to it,{{sfn|Mardaga|1989|p=34}}{{sfn|Gérard|2023|p=22}} the Place Anneessens was laid out in 1639 on the Voldersbempt or Pré aux Foulons, a secluded piece of meadow bordered by the {{lang|fr|Rue d'Anderlecht|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Anderlechtstraat|italic=no}}, the river Senne and a man-made arm of the river, called the "Lesser Senne" ({{langx|fr|Petite Senne|link=no}}, {{langx|nl|Kleine Zenne|link=no}}).{{sfn|Mardaga|1989|p=34}}

Until the covering of the Senne (1867–1871), the square was the site of a famous flea market, known as the Old Market ({{langx|fr|Vieux Marché|link=no}}, {{langx|nl|Oude Markt|link=no}}).{{sfn|Mardaga|1989|p=34}}{{sfn|Gérard|2023|p=22}} Due to the construction of the Central Boulevards,{{sfn|Demey|1990|p=65}}Map of Suys' proposal. City Archives of Brussels: p.p. 1.169 which attracted a more affluent public, and complaints from local residents about "its filth and its fleas", in March 1873, Brussels' municipal council decided to transfer the Old Market to the Place du Jeu de Balle/Vossenplein in the Marolles/Marollen district,{{sfn|Gérard|2023|p=22}} a function that square has kept to this day.{{Cite web|url=https://visit.brussels/en/place/Flea-market-on-the-Jeu-de-Balle-Square|title=Flea market on the Jeu de Balle Square|website=visit.brussels|language=en|access-date=2018-09-15}}{{Cite web|title=Place du Jeu de Balle market {{!}} Markets from the City of Brussels|url=https://markets.brussels.be/markets/place-du-jeu-de-balle-market?_gl=1*1f16k2k*_ga*MTA4NDY5MTc3NC4xNjI3ODE5ODkw*_ga_CTNTMCN57J*MTYyNzgxOTg5MC4xLjAuMTYyNzgxOTg5MC4w|access-date=2021-08-01|website=markets.brussels.be}}

In 1870, the square was given the name of the liberal politician Joseph Lebeau. As early as 1889, it was renamed after François Anneessens, dean of the Nation of St. Christopher, who was beheaded in 1719 on the Grand-Place because of his resistance to innovations in city government detrimental to the power of the guilds and for his suspected involvement with uprisings within the Austrian Netherlands.{{sfn|Mardaga|1989|p=34}}{{sfn|State|2004|p=12–13}}{{sfn|Gérard|2023|p=22}} A statue created in 1889 by the sculptor Thomas Vinçotte recalls Anneessens' memory.{{sfn|Mardaga|1989|p=35}}{{sfn|Gérard|2023|p=22}}

On the western side, the Place Anneessens is dominated by the former Municipal School no. 13, a building from 1880 in the neo-Flemish Renaissance style to the plans of the architect {{ill|Charles-Émile Janlet|fr|Émile Janlet}}. The Lucien Cooremans Institute was also housed in the building.{{sfn|Mardaga|1989|p=34–36}} Nowadays, the building is occupied by two departments of the {{ill|Haute École Francisco Ferrer|fr|Haute École Francisco Ferrer}} (HEFF).{{sfn|Gérard|2023|p=22}}

Since November 2013, there has been a comic strip wall with a four-storey mural depicting a scene from Thorgal on the corner of the Place Anneessens and the {{lang|fr|Rue de la Caserne|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Kazernestraat|italic=no}}.{{Cite web |title=Thorgal op Anneessensplein |url=https://www.bruzz.be/samenleving/thorgal-op-anneessensplein-2013-11-06 |access-date=2024-11-28 |website=www.bruzz.be |language=nl}}{{Cite web |title=Thorgal / Parcours BD - Ville de Bruxelles – Inventaire du patrimoine mobilier |url=https://collections.heritage.brussels/fr/objects/100683 |access-date=2024-11-28 |website=collections.heritage.brussels |language=fr}}

File:Belgique - Bruxelles - Monument à François Anneessens - 01.jpg|Monument to François-Anneessens (Vinçotte, 1889)

File:Brussel Anneessensplein 11 gemeenteschool n° 13.jpg|Former Municipal School no. 13 (Janlet, 1880), now the Haute École Francisco Ferrer

File:Fonainas3.jpg|View towards the Boulevard Maurice Lemonnier/Maurice Lemonnierlaan

File:Stripmuur Thorgal.jpg|Thorgal and Aaricia comic strip wall (2013)

{{Portal|Belgium}}

• Neoclassical architecture in Belgium
• History of Brussels
• Belgium in the long nineteenth century

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|last=Demey|first=Thierry|title=Bruxelles, chronique d'une capitale en chantier|volume=I: Du voûtement de la Senne à la jonction Nord-Midi|location=Brussels|language=fr|publisher=Paul Legrain/CFC|year=1990|oclc=44643865}}
• {{cite book|last=Eggericx|first=Laure|title=Les Boulevards du Centre|series=Bruxelles, ville d'Art et d'Histoire|volume=20|location=Brussels|language=fr|publisher=Centre d'information, de Documentation et d'Etude du Patrimoine|year=1997|url=http://patrimoine.brussels/liens/publications-numeriques/versions-pdf/bvah/les-boulevards-du-centre}}
• {{cite book|last=Gérard|first=Hervé|title=Bruxelles et ses places|location=Brussels|language=fr|publisher=180° éditions|year=2023|isbn=978-2-940721-32-0}}
• {{cite encyclopedia|first=Paul F.|last=State|title=Historical dictionary of Brussels|volume=14|series=Historical dictionaries of cities of the world|location=Lanham, MD|publisher=Scarecrow Press|year=2004|isbn=978-0-8108-5075-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LErne3-05qoC}}
• {{cite book|ref={{harvid|Mardaga|1989}}|title=Le Patrimoine monumental de la Belgique: Bruxelles|volume=1A: Pentagone A-D|location=Liège|language=fr|publisher=Pierre Mardaga|year=1989|url=https://monument.heritage.brussels/files/cities/1000/documents/01-vol-a-fr-def_k.pdf}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Place Anneessens/Anneessensplein, Brussels}}

Category:Squares in Brussels

Category:City of Brussels

Category:19th century in Brussels