Altitude Cent
Altitude Cent
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  Altitude Cent Location within Brussels   Altitude Cent Altitude Cent (Belgium) | |
| Coordinates: 50°49′1″N 4°20′13″E / 50.81694°N 4.33694°E | |
| Country | Belgium |
| Region | Brussels-Capital Region |
| Arrondissement | Brussels-Capital |
| Municipality | Forest |
| Urbanisation | 4 May 1901 |
| Named after | Altitude |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 1190 |
| Area codes | 02 |
Altitude Cent (French, pronounced [altitydə sə]) or Hoogte Honderd (Dutch, pronounced [ˈhoxtə ˈhɔndərt]), also known as Altitude 100 (French) and Hoogte 100 (Dutch), meaning "Height One Hundred", is a district of Forest, a municipality of Brussels, Belgium. Located east of Duden Park, it occupies the summit of the Flotsenberg, the highest point of the municipality, at an elevation of around 100 metres (330 ft) above sea level.[1][2]
Mostly developed in the early 20th century, it combines eclectic, Art Nouveau and Art Deco houses with apartment blocks from the 1930s and later post-war additions. At its centre stand the circular Place de l'Altitude Cent/Hoogte Honderdplein and the modernist Church of St. Augustine, from which eight avenues radiate in a star-shaped plan.[1] The district is bordered by Saint-Gilles to the north and Uccle and Ixelles to the east. It is served by the tram stop Altitude Cent/Hoogte Honderd on line 18.
History
[edit]Early history
[edit]
The plateau around Altitude Cent was originally part of the Heegde, an outlying section of the Sonian Forest belonging to the Forest Abbey. Among its woods were the Galgeheyde Bosch and the Galge Veld. From the 13th century, the Benedictine nuns gradually cleared the slopes. An abbey farm, the Hof te Spilotsenberg or Hoff van Vorst, was established, later called Splotsberghein the 14th century and Flotsenberghe in the 16th century. Tenants cultivated grain, raised sheep, and supplied timber for nearby gallows and breaking wheels. The Brussels court held sessions at the Galge Veldt from 1233, and executions, including that of Lutheran Lambrecht Thorn in 1528, took place there.[1]
Until the late 17th century, Altitude Cent was sparsely populated. The construction of the Chaussée de Forest/Vorstse Steenweg and the Chaussée d'Alsemberg/Alsembergse Steenweg gradually increased the population. In 1786 there were 740 inhabitants, nearly doubling by 1850, while the area remained largely rural. Between 1890 and 1910, the population quadrupled from 5,885 to 24,228, attributed to the municipality’s location, transport links, affordable building plots, sanitation works, and low taxes.[1]
Joseph-Emmanuel Zaman, an industrialist and politician, owned much of the land later developed in the area. He industrialised porphyry paving production, built a private railway for transport, supplied paving for Brussels streets, and invested in metal and sugar industries. By 1874, his estate in Forest exceeded 50 hectares (120 acres). After losing most of his fortune in the Panic of 1884, parts of his land were sold to industrialist Jules Vimenet and the Société anonyme des Villas de Forest.[1]
Urbanisation
[edit]The Société anonyme des Villas de Forest, founded in 1887 with capital mainly from Zaman’s lands, aimed to prepare land for construction, lay out roads, and facilitate housing. In 1899 Alexandre Bertrand and associates acquired all shares and began preparing land rapidly for the St. Augustine neighbourhood. The first design plan was drawn in November 1899, revised multiple times, and approved by municipal councils in 1900–1901, with the final street layout confirmed by royal decree on 4 May 1901. The Société anonyme des Villas de Forest funded groundworks, paving, sidewalks, tree planting, and sewerage, while the municipality provided utilities and partially refunded building taxes.[1][2]
Simultaneously, Bertrand initiated the construction of a temporary St. Augustine Chapel and presbytery on the central square, designed by architect Edouard Ramaekers in neo-Gothic style. The chapel’s cornerstone was laid in May 1900 and inaugurated on 22 October 1900. A year later, King Leopold II formalised the new parish, with Bertrand as chairman, and in 1902 the Société anonyme des Villas de Forest donated the chapel, presbytery, and land to the parish. The chapel no longer exists, but the presbytery remains at Avenue Saint-Augustin/Sint-Augustinuslaan 12. The new parish quickly attracted residents, and from 1900 Bertrand began selling plots and processing building applications.[1][2]
In parallel, in 1875 Victor Besme proposed the Forest Park on the Galgeheyde, financed by Leopold II. Designed by Besme and revised by Émile Lainé in 1890, the thirteen-hectare park opened in 1882 as South Park or Park of Saint-Gilles and received its current name in 1913. Its construction, connection to the Bois de la Cambre, and the 1895 electric tram between the South Station and Globe encouraged development of the Berkendael and Altitude Cent districts.[1]
Between 1902 and 1903, the first phase of construction in the area around Avenue Saint-Augustin began amid tensions between the Belgian State, the municipality of Forest, and the Société anonyme des Villas de Forest over approval of the development plan. A number of private buyers submitted building applications, mostly for single-family homes, while some invested in rental properties. Architects such as Edouard Ramaekers, Léon Janlet, Alphonse Boelens, and Camille Damman designed buildings in neo-Gothic, eclectic, and Art Nouveau styles. Alexandre Bertrand acted as developer, commissioning several projects and selling plots to private investors. In 1904, the Institut Sainte-Ursule was constructed as a girls’ boarding school on Avenue des Armures/Wapenrustinglaan, designed by Damman. By 1909, construction accelerated on theAvenue Saint-Augustin and new streets such as Avenue Oscar Van Goidtsnoven/Oscar Van Goidtsnovenlaan, with row houses, shops, and corner apartment buildings appearing throughout the neighbourhood.[1][2]
In December 1908, the Belgian State and the municipality of Forest introduced the Projet des Parcs, aiming to beautify the area and connect it to Duden Park, including new road layouts, widened streets, tree plantings, and a belvedère, which was later replaced by a panoramic terrace and orientation table. The plan required modifications to Bertrand’s 1901 layout and was approved by the municipal council in July 1911, with a royal decree following on 8 February 1912. Following approval, expropriations began, including the removal of social housing on Avenue Besme/Besmelaan. The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 abruptly halted building activity, which only resumed in the 1920s.[1]
Sights
[edit]- The Church of St. Augustine, a Catholic church designed in Art Deco style and built in 1932–35.[3]
- Duden Park, a public park that includes the Joseph Marien Stadium, home of the football club Royale Union Saint-Gilloise.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "De wijk Hoogte Honderd — Patrimoine - Erfgoed". erfgoed.brussels. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
- ^ a b c d "Hoogte Honderdplein – Inventaris van het bouwkundig erfgoed". monument.heritage.brussels (in Dutch). Retrieved 27 September 2025.
- ^ "Sint-Augustinuskerk – Inventaris van het bouwkundig erfgoed". monument.heritage.brussels (in Dutch). Retrieved 27 September 2025.
- ^ "Stade Joseph Marien – Inventaire du patrimoine architectural". monument.heritage.brussels (in French). Retrieved 27 September 2025.
External links
[edit]- Media related to Altitude Cent/Hoogte Honderd at Wikimedia Commons
