Ixelles is Brussels' most cosmopolitan municipality — Art Nouveau masterpieces, African embassies, the ULB campus, and the finest terrace dining in the capital. The FFGR Belgium Ixelles guide.
Ixelles (Elsene) is the most culturally dense of the 19 Brussels municipalities — bordered by the Avenue Louise to the west and the Chaussée de Wavre to the east, it contains the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) campus, the Abbaye de la Cambre (a 12th-century Cistercian abbey in a park), the Étangs d'Ixelles (twin ornamental lakes surrounded by Art Nouveau villas), and the Chaussée de Ixelles (the most lively commercial street in Brussels' African diaspora community).
Art Nouveau in Ixelles: the Rue Defacqz, the Avenue Brugmann, and the Avenue Louise area contain the highest concentration of Art Nouveau domestic architecture in Brussels. The Victor Horta Museum (the architect's former residence on the Rue Américaine, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site) is in Saint-Gilles, adjacent to Ixelles. FFGR Belgium provides guided Art Nouveau circuits combining the Horta Museum, the Tassel House (Horta's first private commission, on the Rue Paul-Émile Janson), and the Solvay House.
The Matonge district: the area around the Chaussée de Wavre and the Matongé crossroads is the cultural heart of Brussels' Central African (primarily DRC and Congolese) community. The music, food, and cultural life of Matonge is unlike anything else in Belgium — and within 10 minutes of the EU Quarter.
The Flagey building: the former INR (Institut National de Radiodiffusion) building, a 1930s Streamline Moderne masterpiece, now houses the RTBF studios and the Flagey concert hall — one of Brussels' finest chamber music venues.