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The Royal Park The entire area of the Royal Park and the Royal Square is situated on the site where the medieval court of Brabant used to stand. This enormous palace dated from the 11th century when the Duke of Brabant left his "castrum" in the centre of the city. In 1780 a Waux-Hall was built, where music was to be played and where people could sit down and relax. In September 1830 the Royal Park became the cradle of the Belgian independance. The Royal Square One can see in the middle of the square the statue of Godfroy of Bouillon, leader of the first Crusade in 1096. This statue was placed here in 1843 when the new state of Belgium wanted to legitimize its historic roots and several statues with national personae were erected in the entire country. On the corner of the Royal Square, are the buildings of the Museum of Ancien Art, as well as the Museum of Modern Art. The Column of Congress High, surmounted statue of the King Leopold 1st (work of Guillaume Geefs), it 46 includes/understands an interior staircase of 193 steps. It was set up, according of the plans of Joseph Poelaert (victorious of an open contest on October 15, 1849) of 1850 to 1859. Inaugurated on September 26, 1859, it commemorates the National Congress which promulgated the Belgian Constitution (1831) at the following day of the revolution of 1830. The Unknown Soldier To these great memories came to be added a moving memory. In front of the Column, between two colossal lions (Simonis) glorifiant the independence of Belgium and his attachment with freedom, one deposited the remainders mortals of the Belgian Unknown Soldier, during an impressive ceremony which proceeded, November 11, 1923. An eternal flame burns.