Brussels

(brü elz,) [Fr. Bruxelles,] a city of Belgium, C. of that kingdom and of the p. of Brabant, on the Senne, 20 m. from Antwerp, and abt. 50 E. by S. from the German Ocean. B. is a magnificently situated and handsomely built place, po e ing fine public promenades, and some noble edifices, particularly the church of St. Gudule. It has many manuf., and carries on an extensive commerce. In the 10th cent., B. became the C. of the dukes of Brabant, and towards the close of the 16th cent. it was nearly depopulated by the tyranny of the Spanish viceroy, the duke of Alva. Under the first French empire it was the C. of the dep. Dyle, and previous to 1830, one of the capitals of the original kingdom of the Netherlands. It has since become the Belgian metropolis. Pop. 169,249. [s. 120]