Brussels is home to the Royal Palace of Brussels, whose present façade was completed in 1905.
The palace stands opposite Brussels Park and serves as the Belgian monarch’s official palace, although the royal family does not normally live there. The complex grew from two 18th-century neoclassical mansions that were joined and transformed after Belgian independence.
King Leopold II ordered major expansion and remodeling in the late 19th century. Architect Alphonse Balat designed much of the monumental exterior, and the present façade was completed in 1905. The interiors include ceremonial rooms used for state functions, receptions, and official meetings.
The palace opens to the public for a limited period each summer, traditionally after Belgium’s National Day on 21 July. The nearby Royal Castle of Laeken is the monarch’s residential home, a distinction often missed in descriptions of Brussels’s royal buildings.