Montagne de la Cour, Rue/Hofbergstraat

   The street that linked rue de la Madeleine with place Royale, only an abbreviated section of the rue Montagne de la Cour exists today. The street— and that of rue de Namur—follows the traces of a rustic path that scaled the Coudenberg hill from at least the 10th century. Count Lambert II transported his possessions from the castrum to the new fortress on the heights along this trail, thus the name "court." It was paved in the 12th century and formed part of an east-west axial road known as the Steenweg ("stone road"), comprising the current rues de Namur (formerly Coudenberg), Montagne de la Cour, de la Madeleine, Marché aux Herbes, Marché aux Poulets, Sainte-Catherine, and de Flandre. This road constituted the principal communication link between the lower town and the upper town.

   For centuries, it was a bustling thoroughfare. Sidewalks were installed in the 18th century and it was widened when the place Royale was created. Luxury stores were noteworthy here from the mid-19th century until World War II. When the Ministry of Public Works decreed razing the Mont des Arts in 1955, demolition of a portion of the street commenced (houses 1 through 67). The construction of the Bibliothèque royale de Belgique and the adjoining gardens left only a small southeastern portion remaining.