Ludus Pro Patria – Games for the Fatherland, it says on an abandoned building on the hill above Namur.
This enigmatic structure turns out to be a former sport stadium opened by King Léopold II. His plan was to turn the old citadel site, which no longer served any military purpose, into a centre for culture and sport.
The slogan Ludus Pro Patria was borrowed from the Olympic Games held in Athens in 1896.
Modelled on an ancient Greek stadium, it was designed by the Brussels architect Georges Hobé in the style of the Vienna Secession. One of the earliest reinforced concrete buildings in the country, it could seat 4,000 spectators.
You can track down another perplexing building at the back of the stadium. Here, hidden in the trees, is a concrete open-air theatre designed to seat 2,800 people. Now it is an abandoned and forgotten place.
Derek Blyth’s hidden secret of the day: Derek Blyth is the author of the bestselling “The 500 Hidden Secrets of Belgium”. He picks out one of his favourite hidden secrets for The Brussels Times every day.
