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Josaphat Park
Parc Josaphat (French) Josaphatpark (Dutch)
A view of Josaphat Park
Type	Public park
Location	Schaerbeek, Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium
Coordinates	50°51′44″N 4°23′06″E / 50.86222°N 4.38500°E / 50.86222; 4.38500
Area	20 ha (49 acres)
Created	1901

Josaphat Park (French: Parc Josaphat; Dutch: Josaphatpark) is a public park of 20 ha (49 acres) located in the municipality of Schaerbeek in Brussels, Belgium. The football stadium that was formerly used by the K.V.V. Crossing Elewijt lies on the north-western corner of the park. There is also an elementary school (Chazal school), a tennis club (R.T.C. Lambermont), the municipal greenhouses, animals (horses, donkeys, hen, ducks), two playgrounds, a minigolf course, an archery range, three cafés (La Laiterie, La Buvette Saint-Sebastiaan, and La Guinguette Populeir), a kiosk (Josaphine's), and some ponds.

History

The origin of Josaphat Park lies in the valley carved out by a tributary of the Maelbeek, the Josaphat stream, formerly known as the Roodenbeek. The stream was fed by several springs, the best known of which is still known today as the Fontaine d'Amour or Minnebron (see below). According to tradition, the park's current name comes from the striking resemblance between this valley and the Valley of Josaphat in the Holy Land, noted by a pilgrim back from Palestine in 1574. On a hill near the valley, nicknamed Heyligenbergh, he had a votive column erected as a memento of his journey and his discovery, with a Latin inscription inviting passers-by to meditate on this similarity. That column was restored in 1666, when a Flemish text was added to it, but it was destroyed around 1792–93 by French revolutionaries known as the sans-culottes.

By the 19th century, the Josaphat Valley had become a popular recreational area for Brussels' inhabitants, a remainder of the old Linthout forest that began at the Place Dailly/Daillyplein. In 1901, the municipality of Schaerbeek expressed its intention to create a park there and set about buying back the plots from 197 owners by mutual agreement. At that time, the valley consisted of private properties and estates, the largest of which belonged to the widow Martha, who owned land, fields and a mansion there. She put much of the trees up for sale with a commitment to cut them down, in order to have the land deforested and re-parcelled. King Leopold II, however, sensitive to the valley's beauty, bought the trees without cutting them down and donated them to Schaerbeek's municipal authorities. The widow Martha refused to budge and demanded that the felling clause be applied. Only an expropriation procedure overcame her resistance.

The park's creation was finally decreed during the municipal council of 6 August 1901. Its development was entrusted to the landscape architect Edmond Galoppin [fr] of Melsbroek and the municipal engineer Gaston Bertrand. Galoppin strove to give the park a picturesque appearance by creating rockery in its lower part and irregular paths winding around a string of ponds. On 26 June 1904, it was inaugurated in the presence of Leopold II. At its opening, it covered an area of ​​4 ha (9.9 acres), which was gradually increased to 20 ha (49 acres) through new acquisitions. In 1910, Middelborch Castle was demolished, which would later make way for an archery range. Over time, the park was enriched with new equipment and facilities. In 1914, a playground was inaugurated; two archery clubs (Saint-Sebastiaan and Monplaisir) were set up there in 1919 and 1921 respectively; a minigolf course was laid out in 1954 by the landscape architect René Pechère [fr].

The park was designated through a royal decree issued on 31 December 1974. It underwent a major restoration between 2006 and 2011.

Location and layout

Josaphat Park is located between the Chaussée de Haecht/Haachtsesteenweg to the north and the Avenue Chazal/Chazallaan to the south. It is bordered by the Boulevard Lambermont/Lambermontlaan to the east, and by the Avenue Ernest Renan/Ernest Renanlaan, the Avenue du Suffrage Universel/Algemeen Stemrechtlaan, the Avenue Voltaire/Voltairelaan, the Avenue des Azalées/Azalealaan and the Avenue Général Eisenhower/Generaal Eisenhowerlaan to the west. The park is also crossed by the Avenue Louis Bertrand/Louis Bertrandlaan and the Avenue Ambassadeur Van Vollenhoven/Ambassadeur Van Vollenhovenlaan, as well as by the ring-road railway line.

The park does not have a homogenous appearance. Cut by several roads and the railway line, its 20 ha (49 acres) are divided into three distinct zones. To the north, between the Boulevard Lambermont on the one hand and the Avenue Louis Bertrand and the Avenue du Suffrage Universel on the other, the area is more devoted to sports and games. Further south is the park's most popular part, the large archery lawn. It is undoubtedly the central part that has remained the most picturesque, hilly and laid out as an English-style public promenade. At the far end are three ponds in a row, the third ending in a picturesque rocky landscape with a cascading stream.

In keeping with the encyclopaedic spirit of the 19th century, the park was also intended to be a botanical and zoological garden. It has remained a botanical garden thanks partially to the variety of species it contains (lime trees, beeches, maples, oaks, ash trees, birches, plane trees, magnolias, catalpas, hawthorns, elms, chestnut trees, Canadian poplars, etc.) and partially to the presence of rare specimens such as the bald cypress or the tulip tree. A large plane tree is listed among the most remarkable trees in Belgium. A zoological garden, the park is also home to a vast and rich poultry yard (ducks, peacocks, geese, waterhens, guinea fowl, etc.) and a dovecote.

Sculptures

Josaphat Park contains a large collection of sculptures, including works by sculptors Jules Lagae, Victor Rousseau, Albert Desenfans, Edmond Lefever [fr], Joseph Van Hamme, Eugène Canneel [fr], Maurice De Korte [fr], Jacques Nisot [fr], and Jean Lecroart. Among the twenty or so sculptures that line its winding paths are effigies or busts of the poets Émile Verhaeren and Albert Giraud, the writers Hubert Krains and Georges Eekhoud, the composer Henri Wetz, the playwright Nestor Detière [fr], and the painters Léon Frédéric and Oswald Poreau [fr]. Other notable sculptures include some very fine bronzes such as The Pruner and Eve and the Serpent (by Desenfans), Cinderella (by Lefever), Boreas (by Van Hamme), Tijl Uylenspiegel and Cariatide (by Canneel), Maternity (by De Korte), the Monument to Philippe Baucq (by Nisot), and finally the Monument to Edmond Galoppin (by Lecroart), erected in memory of the park's creator.

• Josaphat Park's sculptures
• The Pruner by Albert Desenfans
• Eve and the Serpent by Desenfans
• Cinderella by Edmond Lefever [fr]
• Boreas by Joseph Van Hamme
• Bronze medallion with Edmond Galoppin [fr]'s effigy by Jean Lecroart

Legend of the Minnebron

The Fontaine d'Amour or Minnebron, a spring in the Josaphat Valley, derives its name from a local legend. According to the story, a young noblewoman named Herlinde lived in a castle on a nearby hill. One evening, she met and fell in love with a knight named Theobald. They secretly met every day at the spring. When Theobald was called to war, he promised to return to Herlinde. Despite her hopes and nightly visits to the spring, Theobald never returned. Heartbroken, Herlinde eventually drowned herself in the spring. Nowadays, it is believed that if two lovers drink from the spring together, they will be united before the year's end.

See also

• List of parks and gardens in Brussels
• History of Brussels
• Belgium in the long nineteenth century

References

Citations

1. ^ "Parc Josaphat – Inventaire du patrimoine architectural". monument.heritage.brussels (in French). Retrieved 31 January 2025.
2. Yves Hanosset et Cristina Marchi, L'avenue Louis Bertrand et le parc Josaphat (in French), Collection Bruxelles, ville d'art et d'histoire, Ministère de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale, 2006, p. 5
3. ^ "Parc Josaphat – Inventaire du Patrimoine Naturel". sites.heritage.brussels (in French). Retrieved 31 January 2025.
4. Atlas du sous-sol archéologique de la région de Bruxelles (in French), volume 16, Ministère de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale, Brussels, 2006, p. 85
5. "Parc Josaphat | Schaerbeek". Schaerbeek 1030 Schaarbeek (in French). Retrieved 31 January 2025.
6. "Brochure parc josaphat by Schaerbeek 1030 Schaarbeek - Issuu". issuu.com. 19 September 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
7. "Schaerbeek - Fontaine d'amour". Musée de l'Eau et de la Fontaine (in French). Retrieved 10 June 2024.

Bibliography

• Demey, Thierry (2010). Bruxelles en vert. Le guide des jardins publics (in French). Brussels: Badeaux. ISBN 978-2-930609-00-3.

External links

• [REDACTED] Media related to Josaphat Park at Wikimedia Commons

• Parks in Brussels
• Urban public parks
• Schaerbeek