Archaeological museum Bruxella 1238 at the Brussels Stock Exchange officially inaugurated
The Bruxella 1238 archaeological museum was officially inaugurated at the foot of the Stock Exchange building in Brussels on Wednesday. The thoroughly renovated site will also be open to the public as of Thursday.
Bruxella 1238 contains the ruins of a former Franciscan monastery, which was located in the centre of Brussels in the 13th century. The grave of Duke John I of Brabant is also located in the ruins, a fitting final resting place below the Stock Exchange's Beer World. According to legend, the Duke was Gambrinus, the mythical king of Flanders and Brabant who is said to have created the famous Brussels beers, faro and lambic.
The artefacts and the burial grounds were discovered by the archaeologists during the excavations on the site between 1988 and 2022 and are marked by several events such as European religious wars and the bombardment of Brussels by the troops of Louis XIV in 1695. By the end of the 18th century, the Franciscan monastery was declared national property and was taken down later to the profit of the construction of the Stock Exchange building.
The archaeological site was recognisable in the street scene for years due to its protrusions of glass constructions next to the Stock Exchange building. Those glass structures have now disappeared, and the site's ceiling has been levelled to with the street.
The renovation works also aimed to increase the accessibility of the museum. A new entrance has now been created via the Beursgebouw.
The reopening of the museum is part of the thorough transformation that the Brussels Stock Exchange is undergoing. For example, in September last year, Belgian Beer World was housed in the impressive building in the centre of Brussels.
“We are extremely proud to have renovated this mythical building and opened it to the general public. The Stock Exchange is entering a new phase of its transformation into a new multifunctional space accessible to everyone,” says Philippe Close, the Mayor of Brussels.
The museum can now be visited from Tuesday to Sunday, between 10:00 and 18:00, with an entrance fee of 5 euros.
Bourse building (Brussels Stock Exchange)© CTK PHOTO / SUPOVA TEREZA
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