Nestled in the heart of Uccle, the Dieweg Cemetery seems frozen in time. Opened in 1866 and decommissioned in 1958, it now offers a striking sight: nature has reclaimed its rights, gradually invading the tombs and deserted alleys. This place steeped in history, where plants and memory are intimately intertwined, exudes a mysterious, almost unreal atmosphere.
The Dieweg Cemetery: a place out of time
If you’re planning to visit the Dieweg Cemetery, be sure to do so in a calm and caring manner, with total respect for the deceased. This breathtaking place is unlike any other in Brussels. As you enter, you leave behind all sense of time and space…
Nature, which has long since reclaimed its rights, intertwines with the tombs of deceased Brussels citizens such as architect Paul Hankar and cartoonist Hergé. Funerary art is also represented here in many forms: tombs, graves, columns, statues, mausoleums, arches, monoliths, chapels…
Could the Dieweg Cemetery be dubbed the “Père Lachaise of Brussels”? Although its Parisian neighbor is better maintained and home to some of the great names of French culture (notably Molière and La Fontaine), the Dieweg Cemetery has an atmosphere that is unique in Belgium. However, it’s worth pointing out a surprising anecdote: both cemeteries are located on “Rue du Repos”!
Does the Dieweg Cemetery deserve a little more space in tourist guides?
There’s something almost striking about the atmosphere here: post-apocalyptic on a dark day, melancholy on a rainy one, almost poetic on a sunny one (if you can call it that).
Whatever the season, the Dieweg Cemetery has that special gift of suspending time in its flight. Enough so that the souls who dwell there can find eternity…
📍Address: Dieweg 95, 1180 Uccle.