Parc Forestier, Protected heritage park in Anderlecht, Brussels
Parc Forestier is a public park and protected heritage site in Anderlecht, Brussels, featuring sloping terrain, open grassy areas, wooded sections, and more than 280 trees of varied species. Paths wind through the gently inclined land, passing large old trees with broad trunks, including black locusts, limes, maples, and pines.
The land served as an active cemetery from 1854 until the early 1950s, when a new burial ground was opened nearby. In the 1960s, most of the surrounding walls were taken down and the site was converted into a public park, opening to visitors in 1967.
The park still carries visible traces of its past as a cemetery, with holly bushes and old trees growing where graves once stood. These plants give the place a rooted, layered feeling that sets it apart from a standard city park.
The park has several entrances, including a main one on Place du Repos and others on Rue Démosthène and Rue du Souvenir. The nearest metro station, Aumale, is close by, and inside the park you can find a children's play area and a pétanque court.
Two black locust trees in the park are among the largest of their kind in all of Brussels, with trunks measuring more than 3 meters around. The park was listed as a protected site in 1997 partly because of these trees.
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