The tollhouses

While the ring boulevards were being built, the city was still surrounded by a fence that separated it from the countryside. This fence did not play a defensive role anymore, but it ensured that access to the city was only possible via gateways. There were 14 gates, pavilions in neoclassical style. At these gates the toll on goods was collected. When the toll was abolished in 1860, the euphoric population destroyed the fence around the city. The tollhouses of the Porte d'Anderlecht and the Porte de Ninove still exist today. The pavilions of the Porte de Namur were moved to the entrance of the Bois de la Cambre, at the end of the Avenue Louise.