{{Short description|Square in Brussels, Belgium}} {{Use British English|date=October 2023}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}} {{Infobox street | name = {{unbulleted list|{{native name|fr|Square Sainctelette|italic=no}}|{{native name|nl|Sainctelettesquare|italic=no}}}} | marker_image = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | alternate_name = | image = Northern Quarter, Brussels, Belgium - panoramio (6).jpg | image_size = 250px | image_alt = | image_map = | caption = Looking west towards the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in the background | map_type = Belgium Brussels#Belgium | map_size = | map_caption = Location within Brussels | map_alt = | other_name = | former_names = | part_of = | namesake = Charles-Xavier Sainctelette | type = Square | owner = | maint = | length = | length_m = | length_ft = | length_km = | length_mi = | length_ref = | length_notes = | width = | area = | addresses = | location = City of Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium | arrondissement = | quarter = Quays or Sainte-Catherine/Sint-Katelijne Quarter | postal_code = 1000 | metro = {{rint|brussels}} {{rint|brussels|2}} {{rint|brussels|6}} Yser/IJzer | coordinates = {{coord|50|51|31|N|04|20|49|E|type:landmark_region:BE|display=inline,title}} | direction_a = | terminus_a = | direction_b = | terminus_b = | junction = | north = | east = | south = | west = | main_contractor = | cost = | references = | commissioning_date = | construction_start_date = | completion_date = {{End date|1911}} | inauguration_date = <!-- {{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | demolition_date = | designer = | known_for = | status = | website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} --> }}
The '''{{lang|fr|Square Sainctelette|italic=no}}''' (French, {{IPA|fr|skwaʁ sɛ̃t.lɛt|pron}}) or '''{{lang|nl|Sainctelettesquare|italic=no}}''' (Dutch, {{IPA|nl|ˈsɛɪŋktəlɛt(ə)ˌskwɛːr|pron}}) is a square in the City of Brussels municipality of Brussels, Belgium. It is named in honour of Charles-Xavier Sainctelette, a former Belgian Minister of Public Works.
The square lies along the Brussels–Charleroi Canal, in the north-western corner of Brussels' city centre, on the border with the Molenbeek-Saint-Jean municipality, from which it is separated by the canal. A major traffic axis, it is also part of the Small Ring (Brussels' inner ring road). This area is served by Yser/IJzer metro station on lines 2 and 6 of the Brussels Metro.
==History==
===Early history=== The area of the present-day Square Sainctelette originally formed part of the northern edge of Brussels and was located near the Shore Gate ({{langx|fr|Porte du Rivage|link=no}}, {{langx|nl|Oeverpoort|link=no}}), a city gate dating back to at least the 16th century. The gate stood near a bend linking the Brussels–Charleroi Canal to the Willebroek Canal and was guarded by two octroi pavilions ({{langx|fr|pavillons d'octroi|link=no}}) designed in 1833 by the architect Auguste Payen. To the east, near the present-day {{lang|fr|Place de l'Yser|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Ijzerplein|italic=no}}, the Leopold Bridge connected the {{lang|fr|Bassin du Commerce|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Handelsdok|italic=no}} to the Willebroek Canal.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Sainctelettesquare – Inventaris van het bouwkundig erfgoed |url=https://monument.heritage.brussels/nl/streets/10003143 |access-date=2026-03-11 |website=monument.heritage.brussels |language=nl}}</ref>
[[File:Adrien Louvois, Porte du Rivage et ses abords, 1899, AVB M-2010.jpg|left|thumb|The Shore Gate by Auguste Payen and its surroundings in 1899]]
During the 19th century, the demolition of the fortifications and the construction of the boulevards of the Small Ring transformed the area into an important transport corridor. The Willebroek Canal was moved westwards so it could meet the Brussels–Charleroi Canal in a straight line,<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite report |url=https://admin.be.brussels/en/bhg/document/download/3233 |title=Het Brugplein |trans-title=The Bridge Square |date= |language=nl |format=PDF|year=2022}}</ref> while new harbour docks, such as the {{lang|fr|Bassin Béco|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Becodok|italic=no}} and the {{lang|fr|Bassin Vergote|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Vergotedok|italic=no}}, were constructed. Disused sections of canal and former docks, including the Bassin du Commerce and the {{lang|fr|Ferme des Boues|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Mestback|italic=no}}, were filled in between 1910 and 1911 to make way for a new urban district.<ref name=":0" />
===Construction=== The Square Sainctelette itself was laid out in 1911 together with the {{lang|fr|Quai du Commerce|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Handelskaai|italic=no}}, the {{lang|fr|Boulevard de Dixmude|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Diksmuidelaan|italic=no}}, the {{lang|fr|Boulevard d'Ypres|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Ieperlaan|italic=no}} and the Place de l'Yser. The square received its name by decision of the Brussels City Council on 18 October 1912,<ref name=":0" /> in honour of the lawyer and politician {{ill|Charles-Xavier Sainctelette|fr|Charles-Xavier Sainctelette|nl|Charles-Xavier Sainctelette}},<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Square Sainctelette |url=https://www.reflexcity.net/bruxelles/ponts-et-chaussees/petite-ceinture/square-sainctelette |access-date=2026-03-11 |website=www.reflexcity.net}}</ref> who served as Belgium's Minister of Public Works.<ref name=":0" />
left|thumb|The Davi's Water-Chute in the {{Lang|fr|Luna Park de Bruxelles|italic=no}} in 1910
Although the square was created shortly before the First World War, most of the surrounding buildings were constructed only from the 1920s onwards. In 1912, the city leased the block between the {{lang|fr|Quai des Péniches|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Akenkaai|italic=no}} and the {{lang|fr|Quai de Willebroeck|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Willebroekkaai|italic=no}} to an entrepreneur named Marquet, who opened a luna park there. The complex included a monumental entrance and a large Beaux-Arts-style festival hall designed in 1913, where performances were held by companies such as the Ballets Russes, featuring the Russian dancer Vaslav Nijinsky. The amusement park was closed and occupied by German forces during World War I, and plans to cut a diagonal street through the block were abandoned in 1925.<ref name=":0" />
In 1929, a competition for new canal bridges was won by the architect Victor Rogis, whose design incorporated sculpted stone pillars created by {{ill|Ernest Wynants|fr|Ernest Wynants|nl|Ernest Wynants}}.<ref name=":2" /> Industrial development also expanded along the canal, and the northern side of the square was gradually built up with notable buildings, including a Beaux-Arts office building completed in 1928 and the former Lunatheater, built in Art Deco and modernist styles.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Kaaitheater, ancien Luna-Theater – Inventaire du patrimoine architectural |url=https://monument.heritage.brussels/fr/buildings/36264 |access-date=2025-10-14 |website=monument.heritage.brussels |language=fr}}</ref> In 1933, the Citroën Garage was built in modernist style, designed by the architects {{ill|Alexis Dumont|fr|Alexis Dumont|nl|Alexis Dumont}} and {{ill|Marcel Van Goethem|fr|Marcel Van Goethem}}.<ref name=":1" />
Simultaneously, the branches of the Willebroek Canal were converted into an urban motorway, the first of its kind in Brussels, linking the Pentagon (Brussels' city centre) to the Heysel/Heizel Plateau, which hosted the Brussels International Exposition of 1935. The name ''Quai de Willebroeck'' continues to reference the former canal branch along this major traffic route.<ref name=":1" />
===Later development=== Originally, the centre of the square was arranged as a triangular garden containing the Monument to the Fallen Engineers, designed by the sculptor Charles Samuel and the architect {{ill|Joseph Van Neck|fr|Joseph Van Neck}},<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" /> and inaugurated in 1928. In 1957, during the redevelopment of the Small Ring in preparation for the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (Expo 58), the monument was moved to the {{lang|fr|Square Vergote|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Vergotesquare|italic=no}} when the {{ill|Viaduct of Koekelberg|nl|Viaduct van Koekelberg}} was built across the square to accommodate increased road traffic.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Vergotesquare – Inventaris van het bouwkundig erfgoed |url=https://monument.heritage.brussels/nl/streets/10300274 |access-date=2026-03-11 |website=monument.heritage.brussels |language=nl}}</ref>
[[File:Canal metro crossing works.jpg|thumb|Construction of a road and metro line 2, showing the temporary viaduct and the old viaduct under demolition]]
Construction of Simonis metro station began in 1978, prompting discussions about an underground road link beneath the Square Sainctelette. Work on the tunnel started in December 1980 and was completed in 1986.<ref name=":1" /> The viaduct was demolished in 1984 and replaced by the Leopold II Tunnel.<ref name=":0" /> During construction, temporary bridges were used, including replacements for parts of the existing viaduct, and two permanent bridges were ultimately built, higher than the previous ones, incorporating the four statues by Ernest Wynants. The balustrades of these bridges, combining solid blue stone and stainless steel, echo the interwar bridges constructed during the deepening of the Brussels–Charleroi Canal and the expansion of port facilities, with the statues the only historical elements of the bridges remaining.<ref name=":1" />
Beneath the square lies {{ill|Sainctelette metro station|fr|Sainctelette (métro de Bruxelles)|nl|Sainctelette (metrostation)}}, which has never been opened.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2023-06-03 |title=Stations fantômes et infrastructures inachevées : près de 19.000 m² d'espaces inoccupés dans le métro bruxellois |url=https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/fr/2023/06/02/stations-fantomes-et-infrastructures-inachevees-pres-de-19-00/ |access-date=2025-10-14 |website=VRT NWS |language=fr}}</ref>
===21st century=== In the 21st century, the surrounding neighbourhood gradually shifted from wholesale trade to a mixture of residential, office and cultural uses. The former Citroën Garage was converted into the KANAL – Centre Pompidou museum of modern and contemporary art,<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of the building |url=https://kanal.brussels/en/history-building |url-status=live |access-date=2026-03-11 |website=Kanal}}</ref> while the nearby Kaaitheater occupies the former Lunatheater building.<ref name=":3" />
In 2019, the square was voted the most dangerous intersection in Brussels in an online poll conducted by the Dutch-language Brussels broadcaster BRUZZ.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dit zijn volgens jou de gevaarlijkste kruispunten van Brussel |url=https://www.bruzz.be/mobiliteit/dit-zijn-volgens-jou-de-gevaarlijkste-kruispunten-van-brussel-2019-04-02 |access-date=2025-06-10 |website=www.bruzz.be |language=nl}}</ref> Plans for a major redesign of the square were finalised the same year,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dit wordt het nieuwe Sainctelette |url=https://www.bruzz.be/stedenbouw/dit-wordt-het-nieuwe-sainctelette-2019-04-30 |access-date=2025-06-10 |website=www.bruzz.be |language=nl}}</ref> and in 2022, an application was submitted to transform it into a contiguous public space with the Place de l'Yser.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vergunning aangevraagd voor langverwachte heraanleg 'zwart punt' Sainctelette |url=https://www.bruzz.be/mobiliteit/vergunning-aangevraagd-voor-langverwachte-heraanleg-zwart-punt-sainctelette-2022-03-01 |access-date=2025-06-10 |website=www.bruzz.be |language=nl}}</ref>
On 16 October 2023, an intersection and building just off the square were the scene of a terrorist attack, in which two Swedish football supporters were killed and a third person injured.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67131128|title=Brussels shooting: Police shoot dead attacker who killed Swedes|date=17 October 2023|website=BBC News}}</ref><gallery mode="packed" heights="180"> File:Kaaienwijk, 1000 Brussel, Belgium - panoramio (7).jpg|Sainctelette Bridge File:Kaaitheater Bxl.JPG|Kaaitheater File:Kanal Centre Pompidou Brussels.jpg|KANAL – Centre Pompidou </gallery>
==See also== {{Portal|Belgium}} * Art Deco in Brussels * History of Brussels * Belgium in the long nineteenth century
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Commons category-inline|Square Sainctelette/Sainctelettesquare, Brussels}} * [https://monument.heritage.brussels/nl/streets/10003143 Sainctelettesquare] (Inventaris Bouwkundig Erfgoed)
Category:Squares in Brussels Category:City of Brussels Category:1911 in Belgium