We walk past it without necessarily paying much attention, but the Palais du Midi may still be hiding a few secrets beneath its feet. As this iconic building on Boulevard Maurice Lemonnier is set to be partially demolished to make way for Metro Line 3, the ARAU claims to have uncovered evidence of two World War II-era air-raid shelters. However, their existence has yet to be confirmed by the authorities…
Two shelters, each 450 m²?
According to research conducted by the Atelier de recherche et d’action urbaines, two shelters were reportedly built in the basements of the Palais du Midi, one in 1940 and the other in 1943. The association estimates that each shelter covered an area of 450 m² and had a total capacity that could have reached 1,500 people. It says it has cross-referenced archival records and testimonies from former users and is now calling for an archaeological study to be conducted before any work is carried out in these spaces.
For now, however, it is impossible to present this as a definitively established discovery. The City of Brussels, which owns the building, says it is conducting verifications, while the STIB states that it has no evidence in its plans or excavations attesting to the presence of a bunker beneath the Palais du Midi.
A building already at the center of a massive construction project
This new controversy comes as the Palais du Midi is already at the center of the highly contested Metro Line 3 construction project. Built between 1875 and 1880 by architect Wynand Janssens, this former covered market is approximately 175 meters long and now houses, among other things, a school, a sports complex, and retail stores.
The project calls for the demolition of a large portion of the building’s interior while preserving its historic facades, in order to allow for the construction of the tunnel. It is precisely this intervention that concerns heritage advocates… In 2024, Europa Nostra had already included the Palais du Midi among the 11 most endangered European sites in its “7 Most Endangered” program.
The ARAU is therefore requesting that any such shelters be documented before construction continues. A question now hangs in the air beneath the Palais du Midi: what is really in its basements?
