Small ring (Brussels)

The Brussels small ring ( _fr. petite ceinture, _nl. Kleine Ring) or inner ring road is a series of roadways in central Brussels surrounding the historic city centre. It was built on the site of the Brussels's second set of walls, built in the 16th century, after they were torn down.

The small ring and the area within it are often called the pentagon, as it has a pentagonal shape. The small ring is about 8 km long.

During the second stage of the covering of the Senne in the 20th century, the river was diverted to underneath the western boulevards of the ring. This freed up the main tunnels which had formerly contained the water to allow construction of the Brussels premetro with minimal disruption of the surface.

History

In the 16th century, Brussels had a second set of defensive walls built to accommodate the expanding city. There were eight gates built along its length, many of which give their names to squares and intersections along the course of the road.

The walls proved fairly useless in combat, not able to prevent either the French bombardment of Brussels in 1695, or French troops from seizing the city in 1746 as part of the War of the Austrian Succession. After the latter, the defencive works were in ruins. By that time, siege was no longer as important a part of warfare. Due to the growth of commerce and roads, it was found that the fortifications did little more than frustrate transit into and out of the city.

In 1782, Emperor Joseph II ordered the dismantling of most fortifications in the Low Countries, including those of Brussels. The dismantling work of the exterior defences began in the east of the city. In 1795, when Republican France invaded and annexed the Low Countries, the demolitions were stopped, not resuming until an order from Napoleon in 1804. Laeken Gate was destroyed in 1808. By an ordinance on May 19 1810, the French Emperor ordered the second walls demolished and replaced by boulevards with a median in the centre. The fall of the First French Empire prevented the project's immediate execution.

With the return of stability, in 1818, authorities organized a contest for plans to demolish the ramparts and replace them with boulevards suited to the exigencies of contemporary life in the city. The proposal of Jean-Baptiste Vifquain was ultimately chosen. It involved construction of squares and boulevards, with spaces to walk and two to four rows of trees lining the route, a main road and parallel side roads. A barrier with a ditch running its length was still installed, however, and customs houses built at the entrances, to allow continued taxation of commercial goods entering the city. The work was to be financed by selling the land that was freed up, although this took over 20 years to do.

In the 1950s, with pressure from the automobile, new plans to improve traffic flow were implemented, partly due to the 1958 World's Fair. Later tunnels were dug, and one of the main lines of the Brussels Metro now runs primarily underneath the small ring.

Ring 20

All ring roads in Belgium bear the name "ring". Brussels has three ring roads: "Ring 0" which surrounds the agglomeration, "Ring 21", which is intermediate, while "Ring 20" is the innermost, comprising the small ring, with an extension along boulevard Léopold II / Leopold II laan and avenue Charles Quint / Karel de Vijfdelaan, all the way to R0.

Roads which make up the small ring

* A – Boulevard Léopold II / Leopold II laan
* B – Boulevard Baudouin / Boudewijnlaan
* C – Boulevard d’Anvers / Antwerpselaan
* D – Avenue du Boulevard / Boulevardlaan
* E – Boulevard du Jardin Botanique / Kruidtuinlaan
* F – Avenue Galilée / Galiléelaan
* G – Boulevard Bisschoffsheim / Bisschoffsheimlaan
* H – Avenue de l’Astronomie / Sterrenkundelaan
* I – Boulevard du Régent / Regentlaan
* J – Avenue des Arts / Kunstlaan
* K – Avenue Marnix / Marnixlaan
* L – Boulevard de Waterloo / Waterloolaan
* M – Avenue de la Toison d’Or / Guldenvlieslaan
* N – Avenue Henri Jaspar / Henri Jasparlaan
* O – Avenue de la Porte de Hal / Hallepoortlaan
* P – Boulevard du Midi / Zuidlaan
* Q – Boulevard Poincaré / Poincarélaan
* R – Boulevard de l’Abattoir / Slachthuislaan
* S – Boulevard Barthélemy / Barthélémylaan
* T – Boulevard de Nieuport / Nieuwpoortlaan
* U – Boulevard du 9e de Ligne / 9de Linielaan