Ixelles
Ixelles (French: [iksɛl]) or Elsene (Dutch: [ˈɛlsənə] (listen)
) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located to the south-east of Brussels' city centre, it is geographically bisected by the City of Brussels. It is also bordered by the municipalities of Auderghem, Etterbeek, Forest, Uccle, Saint-Gilles and Watermael-Boitsfort.
As of 1 January 2020[update], the municipality had a population of 87,632 inhabitants.[2] The total area is 6.34 km2 (2.45 sq mi), which gives a population density of 13,679/km2 (35,430/sq mi).[2] In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch). It is generally considered an affluent area of the city[3] and is particularly noted for its communities of European and Congolese immigrants.[3]
Ixelles is located in the south-east of Brussels and is divided into two parts by the Avenue Louise/Louizalaan, which is part of the City of Brussels. The municipality's smaller western part includes the Rue du Bailli/Baljuwstraat and extends roughly from the Avenue Louise to the Avenue Brugmann/Brugmannlaan, whilst its larger eastern part includes campuses of Brussels' two leading universities; the French-speaking Université libre de Bruxelles and the Dutch-speaking Vrije Universiteit Brussel, along with the Place Eugène Flagey. The Bois de la Cambre/Ter Kamerenbos is located just south of Ixelles.
The construction of the Avenue Louise was commissioned in 1847 as a monumental avenue bordered by chestnut trees that would allow easy access from Brussels' city centre to the popular recreational area of the Bois de la Cambre. It was also to be the first Haussmann-esqueartery of the city. Originally, fierce resistance to the project was put up by the town of Ixelles—then, as now, a separate municipality (local authority) from the City of Brussels—through whose territory the avenue was to run. After years of fruitless negotiations, Brussels finally annexed the narrow band of land needed for the avenue, in addition to the Bois de la Cambre itself, in 1864. That decision accounts for the unusual shape of today's City of Brussels and for the separation of Ixelles into two separate areas.
The placename was first mentioned in 1210 as Elsela, from the Old Dutch Else(n)lo, meaning alder woods.[4] The origins of the village date from the foundation of La Cambre Abbey. Hendrik I, Duke of Brabant, donated the Pennebeke domain (Pennebeek was the original name of the Maalbeek spring) to the Cistercian nun Gisela in 1201. She in turn founded the Abbey, and in 1210, acquired property on which the duke ordered the construction of a mill.[5] The marshlands around the Abbey were later drained and sanitised, which resulted in four springs which served as a source of fish for the Abbey's inhabitants and the neighbouring hamlets.[6] The Abbey was located near the springs of the Maelbeek river in the Sonian Forest, the remnant of which closest to Brussels became known as the Bois de la Cambre/Ter Kamerenbos in the 19th century. The Abbey was recognised by Jan III van Bethune, the Bishop of Cambrai, in 1202, soon after its foundation.[7] The saints Boniface of Brussels and Alice of Schaerbeek were two of its most famous residents in the 13th century.
Around 1300, during the reign of John II, Duke of Brabant, a hostel was built near the abbey to provide meals to the wood bearers working in the forest. Soon, a hamlet and a couple of chapels were built, including the Church of the Holy Cross (French: Église Sainte-Croix, Dutch: Heilig-Kruiskerk), also inaugurated by the Bishop of Cambrai and dedicated to Mary and the Holy Cross in 1459 (the Bishop of Cambrai is said to have brought two pieces of the original cross with him).[8] Initially, these hamlets and provisions were constructed for the labourers that helped drain and sanitise the marshlands. At that time, part of Ixelles was a dependence of Brussels; the other part was the property of the local lord.