Discover Brussels With Cinquantenaire Park

Cinquantenaire Park, also known as Jubelpark, is located 1.8km east of the royal district of Brussels and is a very large park. It has a triumphal arch in the center and is surrounded by columns in a circular shape. Its structure reminds of St. Pierro Square in the Vatican.

Belgium was founded in 1830. More precisely, it gained its independence. At that time, these areas were part of the military training grounds. 50 years later, in 1880, under the patronage of King Leopold II, he wanted to organize a national exhibition for the 50th anniversary and chose this area.

During and after the exhibitions, new buildings were added to the area using iron, glass and stone, demonstrating Belgium’s economic and industrial leadership. The 30-hectare site also included a pedestrian path, gardens, ponds and waterfalls. In 1930, Cinquantenaire, which means 50th anniversary, was decided to be used as a social and amusement park.

It is wonderful to stroll through the lawns of the magnificent Cinquantenaire Park, which was created at the request of Leopold II. It is also a great pleasure to visit the triumphal arch in the center and the buildings on the sides, which are now used as museums.

On one side is the Brussels Military History Museum, which is about the history of the navy, on the other side is the Brussels Autoworld, where cars from the past to the present are exhibited, and the museum of culture, art and history, where prehistoric artifacts are exhibited along with thousands of artifacts from all over the world. I am sure you will spend a very pleasant few hours here.

Brussels Military History Museum

Brussels Museum of Military History, located in the building north of the Triumphal Arch, is a museum that will satisfy the curiosity of navy enthusiasts, where hundreds of items collected after the war, cannons, rifles, tanks, cars and even military planes used during the war are exhibited.

You can find statues of King Leopold I and Leopold II, busts, military uniforms and much more in this museum. It is also possible to climb to the floor of the statues on the triumphal arch through the museum.

Autoworld

One of the buildings south of the triumphal arch is used as a car museum called Autoworld. There are hundreds of cars inside. It is possible to see cars in every field, sports or classic, from the first dates of the first cars to the present day.

Cinquantenaire Museum

Next to Autoworld is the Cinquantenaire Museum. In this museum, you can find many artifacts from prehistoric times and antiquity. In the art journey from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, artworks from both European and non-European civilizations such as India and East Asia are exhibited. A little archaeology, a little art. We liked this museum very much as we are interested in history.

All three museums in the buildings in Cinquantenaire Park are very important in their own right and have a large archive of exhibitions. You should spend a couple of hours here. If you have a Brussels Card, you can enter all these museums for free. You can find detailed information about the museums by clicking on the relevant museum links.