Ixelles - Elsene, Residential municipality in Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium
Ixelles-Elsene is a residential municipality in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium, partly split by the territory of the City of Brussels. The area includes residential quarters with buildings from the 19th and 20th centuries, main streets lined with shops and cafés, university campuses with lecture halls and libraries, and public parks with ponds and walking paths.
The name Elsela first appeared in a document from 1210 and comes from the Old Dutch word for alder woods that once surrounded the abbey of La Cambre. The municipality developed from the 19th century onward as a favored residential area for the middle class outside the old center of Brussels.
The Matongé quarter takes its name from a neighborhood in Kinshasa and hosts dozens of small shops selling fabrics, food and music from Central Africa. People from the Congolese community gather at street corners to talk while restaurants serve fufu and grilled fish.
Walking is a good way to explore the area, since many streets are accessible to pedestrians and the main points are close together. Student flows bring more life to the streets during the academic term, while the summer months feel quieter.
The Flagey building from the 1930s stands at the junction of two artificial ponds and was originally built to house the national radio institute. The Streamline Moderne structure now holds concert halls and a busy square where people meet on market days and during events.
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