As the capital of Europe, Brussels hosts embassies of 183 nations. But not all embassies are created equal. While many blend quietly into the city's skyline, a select few are true architectural showstoppers.
From Art Nouveau masterpieces to modern cultural fusions, Brussels has it all on offer. For curious visitors or locals, The Brussels Times has compiled a short list of the city's most beautiful embassies to admire on your day off.
Often referred to as “embassy row,” Avenue Franklin Roosevelt is the perfect place to start your architectural sightseeing adventure, with the majority of Brussels embassies are either on the avenue or in its vicinity. The first two buildings on the list are on this street.
The UAE embassy
The UAE Embassy in Brussels, Belgium. Credit: Vicente Torre Hovelson/ The Brussels Times.
Located at Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 86, 1050 Brussels, the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates, also known as Maison Delune, is an Art Nouveau masterpiece designed by Belgian architect Léon Delune and originally built as a place of residence for 80-year-old matriarch Amélie De Grave.
The mansion features an asymmetrical facade and a Byzantine-style dome topped by a golden falcon.
During the 1910 World’s Fair, the house doubled as a café. That was just the start of a chaotic 20th-century ride filled with endless makeovers for Maison Delune.
After WWII, the once-glamorous mansion hit rock bottom. It was stripped bare and taken over by squatters before the last remaining heir finally washed their hands of it and sold it off in 1995. The UAE then purchased the building in 2012.
The Qatari embassy
Qatari embassy in Brussels, Belgium. Credit: Vicente Torre Hovelson/ The Brussels Times.
Situated less than a kilometre from the UAE embassy, the Qatari embassy sits at Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 79. The building was envisioned as a "cultural symbiosis," mixing local Belgian structural influences with early 20th-century Art Deco lines found throughout the neighbourhood, with authentic oriental ornaments, evident from the building's large dome.
The building was designed by the Belgian firm Jaspers-Eyers Architects, and the project was led by Michel Jaspers, a studio heavily involved in creating the city's modern skyline with buildings such as the Rogier Tower and the North Galaxy Towers.
The French embassy
The French embassy in Brussels, Belgium. Credit: Vicente Torre Hovelson/ The Brussels Times
Designed by architect Georges Chedanne, the same man who designed the French embassy in Vienna a few years before, this Brussels gem was built from 1909 to 1914. The building is in the Art Nouveau style, and features intricate stone carvings.
If the name Georges Chedanne rings a bell, it is likely because Chedanne also designed the famous Galeries Lafayette department store in Paris.
A detailed look at the stone carvings on the French embassy in Brussels, Belgium. Credit: Vicente Torre Hovelson/ The Brussels Times.
The French embassy is located at Rue Ducale 65, close to Parc de Bruxelles, and is just a 10-minute walk from the central train station.
The Indian embassy
The Indian embassy in Brussels, Belgium. Credit: Vicente Torre Hovelson/ The Brussels Times.
The Indian embassy is situated on Chaussée de Vleurgat 217 in Ixelles. Designed in 1952 by Belgian architect Yvan Blomme for civil engineer Jean-Louis Semet, the building is the perfect example of a classic modernist home, with a charming fenced garden in front.
An additional reason to visit is that the embassy is situated right in front of Parc Tenbosch, a protected public park featuring rare plant species from all over the world. Due to the embassy’s front green space and foliage, the two areas coexist in perfect harmony.
