At the initiative of the Société d’Encouragement des races de chevaux et du développement des Courses en Belgique, a racecourse was built on the edge of the Sonian Forest to plans by landscape architect Édouard Keilig, who had also designed the Bois de la Cambre. Work began in 1875. The main grandstand, inspired by Flemish neo-Renaissance, stands next to a smaller eclectic-style stand. In 1900, architect François Kips designed the stables and the weighing building, where jockeys’ weight was checked. After a long period of neglect, rehabilitation by the Urban Development Corporation preserved a remarkable architectural testimony — stands, tracks and historic buildings — while reconnecting the site with an exceptional natural environment. It perfectly embodies the changing uses of the Brussels landscape, between exploitation, abandonment and rebirth.
Today, the racecourse has become an open space accessible to all, an emblematic example of valuing landscape as a common good, combining collective memory, biodiversity and new social practices. (Listed since 11/09/1992)