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Postmark 8 May 1903 Brussels Belgian stamp 2 centimes No. 55 with Sunday strip. Addressed to Tilburg Netherlands.Postmark 9 May 1903. Palace of Justice (wiki) It is the centre of the jurisdiction of the Brussels Court of Appeal and of the judicial district of Brussels and the seat of the Court of Cassation. The building was constructed in eclectic style in 1860 by architect Joseph Poelaert, under the reign of King Leopold I. This gigantic building was considered the largest building in the world in the 19th century.[1] In addition to new prisons and gendarmerie barracks, this building provided a new vision on crime fighting in the mid-19th century. The emphasis shifted to the deterrent effect of the new arsenal of repressive institutions and buildings rather than the rather arbitrary physical and public punishments of the former Ancien Régime. The courthouse is built on a steeply sloping plane (a 20-meter difference in level between the upper and lower towns), resulting in entrances on different levels. Everything about this building is enormous in size and grand in scale. The building is rectangular, with diameters of 150 and 160 meters respectively.[1] The total built-up area is 26,006 m². It features eight courtyards (6,000 m²), 27 large and 245 small halls or rooms. A monumental dome (24,000 tons), 104 meters high (142 meters above sea level), crowns the building.
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