Putterij

The Putterie (French) or Putterij (Dutch) is a former quarter located in central Brussels, Belgium. The district was centred around Saint Mary Magdalene's Church between the Rue de la Montagne/Bergstraat, the Rue de la Madeleine/Magdalenastraat and the current Boulevard de l’Impératrice/Keizerinlaan. It was largely destroyed starting in the 1920s with the works of the North–South connection, a major railway link through central Brussels, to develop the area for Brussels Central Station and other modern office buildings. Many historic structures were lost in the demolition process.[1]

Street sign of the Putterie/Putterij

Some of the area was redeveloped in the 1980s and 1990s with varying degrees of success, with buildings in the New Classical architecture and the New Brick Renaissance style, following the principles of New Urbanism and the European Urban Renaissance. The name of the street has survived to this day.

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  View of the Putterie/Putterij quarter from the tower of Brussels' Town Hall, c. 1912
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  Another view of the neighbourhood prior to its demolition
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  Carrefour de l'Europe and hotel, constructed in the 1980s in the New Classical style to give back a more historic urban appearance to the area