(French, ) or (Dutch, ), also known as and , meaning "Height One Hundred", is a district of Forest, a municipality of Brussels, Belgium. Located east of Duden Park, it occupies the summit of the Flotsenberg, the highest point of the municipality, at an elevation of around above sea level.
Mostly developed in the early 20th century, it combines eclectic, Art Nouveau and Art Deco houses with apartment blocks from the 1930s and later post-war additions. At its centre stand the circular <bdi>/</bdi> and the modernist Church of St. Augustine, from which eight avenues radiate in a star-shaped plan. The district is bordered by Saint-Gilles to the north and Uccle and Ixelles to the east. It is served by the tram stop / on line 18.
The plateau around was originally part of the , an outlying section of the Sonian Forest belonging to the Forest Abbey. Among its woods were the and the '. From the 13th century, the Benedictine nuns gradually cleared the slopes. An abbey farm, the ' or ', was established, later called in the 14th century and in the 16th century. Tenants cultivated grain, raised sheep, and supplied timber for nearby gallows and breaking wheels. The Brussels court held sessions at the Galge Veldt from 1233, and executions, including that of Lutheran in 1528, took place there.
Until the late 17th century, was sparsely populated. The construction of the <bdi>/</bdi> and the <bdi>/</bdi> gradually increased the population. In 1786 there were 740 inhabitants, nearly doubling by 1850, while the area remained largely rural. Between 1890 and 1910, the population quadrupled from 5,885 to 24,228, attributed to the municipalityâÂÂs location, transport links, affordable building plots, sanitation works, and low taxes.
, an industrialist and politician, owned much of the land later developed in the area. He industrialised porphyry paving production, built a private railway for transport, supplied paving for Brussels streets, and invested in metal and sugar industries. By 1874, his estate in Forest exceeded . After losing most of his fortune in the Panic of 1884, parts of his land were sold to industrialist Jules Vimenet and the .
The , founded in 1887 with capital mainly from ZamanâÂÂs lands, aimed to prepare land for construction, lay out roads, and facilitate housing. In 1899 Alexandre Bertrand and associates acquired all shares and began preparing land rapidly for the St. Augustine neighbourhood. The first design plan was drawn in November 1899, revised multiple times, and approved by municipal councils in 1900âÂÂ1901, with the final street layout confirmed by royal decree on 4 May 1901. The funded groundworks, paving, sidewalks, tree planting, and sewerage, while the municipality provided utilities and partially refunded building taxes.
Simultaneously, Bertrand initiated the construction of a temporary St. Augustine Chapel and presbytery on the central square, designed by architect Edouard Ramaekers in neo-Gothic style. The chapelâÂÂs cornerstone was laid in May 1900 and inaugurated on 22 October 1900. A year later, King Leopold II formalised the new parish, with Bertrand as chairman, and in 1902 the donated the chapel, presbytery, and land to the parish. The chapel no longer exists, but the presbytery remains at <bdi>/</bdi> 12. The new parish quickly attracted residents, and from 1900 Bertrand began selling plots and processing building applications.
In parallel, in 1875 proposed the Forest Park on the , financed by Leopold II. Designed by Besme and revised by in 1890, the thirteen-hectare park opened in 1882 as South Park or Park of Saint-Gilles and received its current name in 1913. Its construction, connection to the Bois de la Cambre, and the 1895 electric tram between the South Station and Globe encouraged development of the Berkendael and districts.
Between 1902 and 1903, the first phase of construction in the area around began amid tensions between the Belgian State, the municipality of Forest, and the over approval of the development plan. A number of private buyers submitted building applications, mostly for single-family homes, while some invested in rental properties. Architects such as Edouard Ramaekers, , , and designed buildings in neo-Gothic, eclectic, and Art Nouveau styles. Alexandre Bertrand acted as developer, commissioning several projects and selling plots to private investors. In 1904, the was constructed as a girlsâ boarding school on <bdi>/</bdi>, designed by Damman. By 1909, construction accelerated on the and new streets such as <bdi>/</bdi>, with row houses, shops, and corner apartment buildings appearing throughout the neighbourhood.
In December 1908, the Belgian State and the municipality of Forest introduced the , aiming to beautify the area and connect it to Duden Park, including new road layouts, widened streets, tree plantings, and a belvedère, which was later replaced by a panoramic terrace and orientation table. The plan required modifications to BertrandâÂÂs 1901 layout and was approved by the municipal council in July 1911, with a royal decree following on 8 February 1912. Following approval, expropriations began, including the removal of social housing on <bdi>/</bdi>. The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 abruptly halted building activity, which only resumed in the 1920s.