This route runs from the Yser metro station to the Louise metro station. Along the way, we encounter:
- A sundial was installed in a newly built office building at Boudewijnlaan 12 in 2005. A metal sphere suspended by a tension cable serves as a shadow caster. This is the largest vertical sundial in Belgium. In addition to vertical hour lines, there are also horizontal date lines. At the top, there is a line for astronomical winter, while at the bottom, a line indicates the beginning of astronomical summer, and in between, there is a date line for the spring and autumnal equinoxes. At the request of the architects Clernaux and Pinon, the sundial was adjusted to the geographical time difference. The hour numerals at the bottom indicate summer time. Jan de Graeve designed the sundial, and Willy Leenders calculated the hour and date pattern.
- On Place De Brouckère, we find the 19th-century Hotel Métropole. This hotel is associated with the Solvay Congresses, prestigious meetings focusing on physics and chemistry. The first was organized in 1911 by Ernest Solvay. This was also the first international meeting ever on physics. The first Solvay Congress, focusing on astronomy, was held in 1958.
- In the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula, you can see a brass line running across the black tiled floor, almost 34 meters long. This noon line allows us to determine exactly when it is noon.
The noon line was constructed in 1836 by Adolphe Quetelet and was part of a major project by the new Belgian government to eliminate time differences in the various cities. This became necessary because a train network was being built in Belgium, and it was crucial that the trains run according to the same time indication. The noon line in the Brussels Cathedral was the first to be built, and Quetelet would later build nine more, bringing the total number of noon lines in Belgium to 41. Quetelet chose the church for its ideal north-south orientation and because he felt it was important for the public to have access to this new time display.
The noon timeline works thanks to a small opening, or oculus, in the thick stone central mullion of the stained-glass window of the south transept. When the sun is directly due south, the sun shines through the opening onto the noon timeline in the church. The best time to observe the noon timeline is in the summer when the sky is blue. Due to a high-rise building on Sint-Gudulaplein, the sun is obstructed from mid-October to early March.
The noon timeline that can be admired in the church is not the original one created by Adolphe Quetelet, which was made of copper. Between 1982 and 1996, the church was restored, and the floor was also re-laid. This caused the original noon timeline to disappear. But thanks to the efforts of Paul Pâquet (then director of the Observatory) and the many gnomics enthusiasts, a new brass sundial was inaugurated in 2001 after further renovations. The new sundial was constructed with the help of Walter Lavrauw's design office, who, together with André Koeckelenbergh, carried out the necessary measurements (now using modern instruments).
- We pass by the Koudenberg, where, between the Centre for Fine Arts and the 'Old England' music museum, we see a sundial on a Neo-Renaissance building with Gothic features. This is the former 'Pharmacie Delacre' from 1895. The building was designed by architect Paul Saintenoy. The sundial's mosaic was created by the Italian Silvio Tolomei. The hour numerals are displayed in Arabic characters.
- Just in front of the Palace of the Academies building stands a marble statue of Adolphe Quetelet. The palace itself is a neoclassical building dating from 1823-1828. Sculptor Charles-Auguste Fraikin was commissioned to create a statue in honor of Adolphe Quetelet, who, besides being the founder of the Royal Observatory, was also secretary of the Royal Academy of Belgium (which he joined at the age of 24) and founder of the natural sciences of the Society. The statue was unveiled on May 11, 1880.
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) was also founded in this palace in the summer of 1919. This union would, among other things, realize the Carte du Ciel project.
- After the walk, you can take metro lines 2 or 6 from Trône to return to the starting point.
This route runs from the Yser metro station to the Louise metro station. Along the way, we encounter:
- A sundial was installed in a newly built office building at Boudewijnlaan 12 in 2005. A metal sphere suspended by a tension cable serves as a shadow caster. This is the largest vertical sundial in Belgium. In addition to vertical hour lines, there are also horizontal date lines. At the top, there is a line for astronomical winter, while at the bottom, a line indicates the beginning of astronomical summer, and in between, there is a date line for the spring and autumnal equinoxes. At the request of the architects Clernaux and Pinon, the sundial was adjusted to the geographical time difference. The hour numerals at the bottom indicate summer time. Jan de Graeve designed the sundial, and Willy Leenders calculated the hour and date pattern.
- On Place De Brouckère, we find the 19th-century Hotel Métropole. This hotel is associated with the Solvay Congresses, prestigious meetings focusing on physics and chemistry. The first was organized in 1911 by Ernest Solvay. This was also the first international meeting ever on physics. The first Solvay Congress, focusing on astronomy, was held in 1958.
- In the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula, you can see a brass line running across the black tiled floor, almost 34 meters long. This noon line allows us to determine exactly when it is noon.
The noon line was constructed in 1836 by Adolphe Quetelet and was part of a major project by the new Belgian government to eliminate time differences in the various cities. This became necessary because a train network was being built in Belgium, and it was crucial that the trains run according to the same time indication. The noon line in the Brussels Cathedral was the first to be built, and Quetelet would later build nine more, bringing the total number of noon lines in Belgium to 41. Quetelet chose the church for its ideal north-south orientation and because he felt it was important for the public to have access to this new time display.
The noon timeline works thanks to a small opening, or oculus, in the thick stone central mullion of the stained-glass window of the south transept. When the sun is directly due south, the sun shines through the opening onto the noon timeline in the church. The best time to observe the noon timeline is in the summer when the sky is blue. Due to a high-rise building on Sint-Gudulaplein, the sun is obstructed from mid-October to early March.
The noon timeline that can be admired in the church is not the original one created by Adolphe Quetelet, which was made of copper. Between 1982 and 1996, the church was restored, and the floor was also re-laid. This caused the original noon timeline to disappear. But thanks to the efforts of Paul Pâquet (then director of the Observatory) and the many gnomics enthusiasts, a new brass sundial was inaugurated in 2001 after further renovations. The new sundial was constructed with the help of Walter Lavrauw's design office, who, together with André Koeckelenbergh, carried out the necessary measurements (now using modern instruments).
- We pass by the Koudenberg, where, between the Centre for Fine Arts and the 'Old England' music museum, we see a sundial on a Neo-Renaissance building with Gothic features. This is the former 'Pharmacie Delacre' from 1895. The building was designed by architect Paul Saintenoy. The sundial's mosaic was created by the Italian Silvio Tolomei. The hour numerals are displayed in Arabic characters.
- Just in front of the Palace of the Academies building stands a marble statue of Adolphe Quetelet. The palace itself is a neoclassical building dating from 1823-1828. Sculptor Charles-Auguste Fraikin was commissioned to create a statue in honor of Adolphe Quetelet, who, besides being the founder of the Royal Observatory, was also secretary of the Royal Academy of Belgium (which he joined at the age of 24) and founder of the natural sciences of the Society. The statue was unveiled on May 11, 1880.
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) was also founded in this palace in the summer of 1919. This union would, among other things, realize the Carte du Ciel project.
- After the walk, you can take metro lines 2 or 6 from Trône to return to the starting point.