The most iconic landmark of Brussels and maybe even Belgium
The Atomium
Atomium seen from the metro station
This monument, that is designed by the engineer André Waterkeyn and architects André and Jean Polak (all Belgians), was originally constructed specifically for the Brussels World's Fair in 1958 (also called Expo 58). It was supposed to just last for a period of 6 months. But the building turned out to be pretty popular and after multiple postponements of its demolishment, the decision was made to just keep it.
Nowadays it functions as a museum and is it known as one of Belgium's most popular tourist attractions.
On the last day of my trip to Brussels, I thought: Stephan, you cannot leave the city without a trip to the Atomium.
The Atomium can be found north of Brussels. I took a metro (line 6) and got off at the Heizel/Heysel station. From there it's just a five-minute walk to the Atomium. The neighborhood is very different compared to the busy streets of Brussels that I was roaming the days before. I mean, of course, it was crawling with tourists, but there is more space and fewer buildings in this area.
Frog view of the Atomium
You can see the Atomium already when you're walking over the carpark near the metro station. Its steel spheres shining in the sunlight (if the sun shines of course...). With its 102 meters in height, the Atomium symbolizes a unit cell of an iron crystal. Of course, we all know a cell is not this huge... They magnified it a spectacular 165 billion times(!) Originally the spheres were made from aluminum. But in the period from 2004 to 2006, renovations took place where the faded aluminum plates were replaced by stainless steel.
Front side and upper sphere
Getting closer to this landmark you will notice that there is an entrance under the lower sphere. The three outer spheres are not open for public (due to safety reasons), but you can visit all the other spheres. They are connected via stairs and escalators. The top sphere can only be reached by elevator. Here's what you can find in the different spheres:
- The level 1 and 2 (lower) spheres have permanent exhibitions about the Expo 58 and a recap of the 50's.
- The level 3, 4 and 5 (middle) spheres have temporary exhibitions.
- The level 6 (top) sphere serves as a lookout point and houses a panoramic restaurant. From here you will have a great view of Brussels. They say that on a bright day you can even see the harbor of Antwerp. I mean, that's like 50 kilometers away.
If you're not a fan of heights, just walk the surroundings of the Atomium. It's really cool to see this remarkable landmark from different angles. The reflections in the spheres and the sharp lines in combination with the circles create a new image every time.
Back side and close-up shot
Thanks for reading and I hope you will visit the Atomium when you find yourself in Brussels one day. You can, of course, discuss whether you think it looks nice or not, but the Atomium is just one of these things you just need to visit once in your life.
If you enjoy my work, please consider upvoting it and follow me for more travel blogs around the world. Also, check out my Steepshot account for regular photo updates!
Hiya, just swinging by to let you know that this post made the Honorable Mentions list in our daily Travel Digest. Please drop by to check out all the rest of today's great posts and consider upvoting the Travel Digest if you like what we're doing.
Congratulations! Your high quality travel content caught our attention and earned you a reward, in form of an upvote and resteem. Your work really stands out. Your article now has a chance to get curated and featured under the appropriate daily topic of our Travelfeed blog. Thank you for using #travelfeed
Belgiums Eiffel tower ;-)
Nice info, thx for sharing!
Wow :)
Nice man! I also only had my first atomium visit only a couple years a ago, while it is actually quite close to my hometown (200 km)
I was super impressed by its size, but also found that it it looked quite old. Did you also find that so?
Thanks for the comment. I think Inknow what you mean. They did renovationa in 2004-2006, but indeed it wouldn’t mind doing it again. Now that I think of it again, seeing the Atomium gave me kind of the same feeling when you see some buildings left from an old communist regime or something;P Like they were showing off or making a point somehow.
I think that is a bit because of the big driveway there with the grass in the middle. I totally understand what you mean with that. Like.. 'look at us and what we can make'
Very UN-belgian!
Congratulations, Your Post Has Been Added To The Steemit Worldmap!
Author link: http://steemitworldmap.com?author=steef-05
Post link: http://steemitworldmap.com?post=the-most-iconic-landmark-of-brussels-and-maybe-even-belgium
Want to have your post on the map too?
Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by steef-05 from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows. Please find us at the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.
If you would like to delegate to the Minnow Support Project you can do so by clicking on the following links: 50SP, 100SP, 250SP, 500SP, 1000SP, 5000SP.
Be sure to leave at least 50SP undelegated on your account.