Brussels Palace of Justice

The Palace of Justice of Brussels is the principal court building of Belgium and the seat of the judicial arrondissement of Brussels, housing the Court of Cassation, the Court of Assizes, the Court of Appeal and the Tribunal of First Instance. Designed by architect Joseph Poelaert and completed after his death under Joseph Joachim Benoit, it was built between 1866 and its inauguration on 15 October 1883 in an eclectic style drawing on Greco Roman and Neoclassical forms. The building covers about 26,000 square meters, measures roughly 160 by 150 meters and rises 116 meters at its dome, making it one of the largest courthouses in the world; it holds 27 large courtrooms and 245 smaller rooms arranged around eight courtyards. Its central hall, spanning about 3,600 square meters and marked by a compass rose set into the floor, sits beneath the great dome and its surrounding classical statuary of legal figures.