Royal Greenhouses Laken: # 3 of 5 - 2014

After exiting the section of the Greenhouse complex next to the Palace of Laken you skirt the palace along the gravel area which is boardered by a stone balustrade the corners of which have stone planting urns.

Well perhaps they are concrete I'm not a hundred percent certain. To me they looked like carved stone but they could have been made from poured concrete moulds of some sort although some of the carvings looked rather intricate.

In any case from there, you can get an idea of just how enormous the Royal Greenhouse of Laken and its surrounding domain is. The grounds slope away down one area off to a large lake, then a screen of forest and in the distance parts of the city.

As I have said before Brussels is a very green city. Its Green Spaces ranging from huge tracts of forest like the Sonian Forest (Dutch: Zoniënwoud, French: Forêt de Soignes) to not so small gardens like those of the Abbey of La Cambre also known as Ter Kameren Abbey (French: Abbaye de La Cambre, Dutch: Abdij Ter Kameren) and Park / vegetable allotments tucked away in the centre of a residential block like Tillens Block (Carré de Tillen) in the Brussels Commune of Forest. Both of which I have covered in several past posts.

Leaving the vista of the lake / pond and distant city you make your way up the roped path past shrubbery and various plants. On your left hand side is the Greenhouse complex while on your right is a vast expanse of lawn sloping down to a small forest.

Further up along the path you get to see some statuary off to the right as well as the sight of a lone greenhouse dome separate from the main complex as well as a Japanese Tower hiding behind a copse of trees.

The Japanese Tower was built for the Brussels Expo of  1958 and afterwards it was taken down and rebuilt at Laken. Unfortunately it is not open to the public although as you get closer to the other entrance to the Greenhouse complex you get to see it across from a large pond.

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