Belgium Brussels-Capital St. Gilles

Saint-Gilles has a multicultural identity stemming from its diverse population. The housing stock varies from semi-derelict tenements, to elegant patrician houses, to tourist hotels at the inner end of the Chaussee de Charleroi/Charleroisesteenweg. Saint-Gilles is also known as one of the centers of artistic and student life in Brussels. Particular architectural delights are found in the dozen or more Art Nouveau houses designed by masters such as Horta, Struyvens, and Hankar, dotted around the upper part of the municipality. The imposing town hall, built between 1900 and 1904, looks larger than it is, and bears a splendid resemblance to a French chateau with Venetian overtones.