Mini-Europe

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Short description: Miniature park in Brussels, Belgium
Mini-Europe
Mini-Europe logo.svg
Laeken Mini Europe viewed from Atomium 3.jpg
Mini-Europe viewed from the Atomium
LocationAvenue du Football / Voetballaan 1, B-1020 Laeken, City of Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium
Coordinates [ ⚑ ] : 50°53′38″N 4°20′20″E / 50.894°N 4.339°E / 50.894; 4.339
Opened1989 (1989)
Operating seasonMarch–October
WebsiteOfficial website
StatusOperating

Mini-Europe is a miniature park located in the Bruparck entertainment park, at the foot of the Atomium, in Brussels, Belgium. Mini-Europe has reproductions of monuments in the European Union and other countries within the continent of Europe on display, at a scale of 1:25. Roughly 80 cities and 350 buildings are represented.[1] Mini-Europe receives 350,000 visitors per year[2] and has a turnover of €4 million.[citation needed]

Mini-Europe is the brainchild of Johannes A. Lorijn, who founded similar miniature parks in Austria and Spain.[citation needed] The park contains live action models such as trains, mills, an erupting Mount Vesuvius, and cable cars. A guide gives the details on all the monuments. At the end of the visit, the Spirit of Europe exhibition gives an interactive overview of the EU in the form of multimedia games.

The park is built on an area of 24,000 m2 (300,000 sq ft). The initial investment was of €10 million in 1989, on its inauguration by then-Prince Philip of Belgium.[citation needed]

Exhibits

Building the monuments

thumb|Part of the site, viewed from the Atomium The monuments exposed are chosen for the quality of their architecture or their European symbolism. Most of the monuments were made using moulds. The final copy used to be cast from epoxy resin, but nowadays polyester is used.[3] Three of the monuments were made out of natural stone (e.g. the Leaning Tower of Pisa, in marble). A computer-assisted milling procedure was used for two of the models. After painting, the monuments are installed on site, together with decorations and lighting.

Many of the monuments were financed by European countries or regions. The Brussels Grand-Place/Grote Markt model cost €375,000 to make.[4] The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela required more than 24,000 hours of work.

Gardens

Ground cover plants, dwarf trees, bonsais and grafted trees are used alongside miniature monuments, and the paths are adorned with bushes and flowers.

List of models

Grand-Place/Grote Markt (Brussels)
Palace of Westminster and Elizabeth Tower (London)
Arc de Triomphe and Sacré Cœur (Paris)
Eiffel Tower (Paris)
Brandenburg Gate (Berlin)
Santiago de Compostela Cathedral (Santiago de Compostela)
Maestranza (Seville)
Mogoșoaia Palace (Mogoșoaia)
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.


Austria

  • Melk Abbey

Belgium

  • Grand-Place/Grote Markt (City Hall, City Museum, Flower Carpet and guild houses), Brussels
  • Belfry, Bruges
  • Town Hall, Leuven
  • Castle of Vêves, Celles
  • Citadel and Notre Dame Church, Dinant
  • Berlaymont building, Brussels
  • Graslei (street) and Rabot, Ghent
  • Alden Biesen Castle, Rijkhoven
  • Grote Markt (City Hall, Brabo Fountain and guild houses), Antwerp
  • Curtius House, Liège

Bulgaria

  • Rila Monastery, Rila Mountains

Croatia

  • St. Mark's Church, Zagreb

Cyprus

  • Ancient Greek theatre, Kourion

Czech Republic

  • Prague Orloj

Denmark

Estonia

  • Great Coastal Gate and Fat Margaret Tower, Tallinn

Finland

  • St. Olaf's Castle, Savonlinna

France

  • Eiffel Tower, Paris
  • Arc de Triomphe, Paris
  • Basilica of the Sacré Cœur, Paris
  • Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
  • Notre Dame du Haut, Ronchamp
  • Clos Vougeot, near Dijon
  • Château de Chenonceau, Loire Valley
  • Royal Saltworks, Arc-et-Senans

Germany

  • Speyer Cathedral
  • Eltz Castle
  • Holstentor, Burgtor and Salzspeicher, Lübeck
  • Brandenburg Gate and Berlin Wall, Berlin
  • Bonngasse (street) with Beethoven's birth house, Bonn
  • Wies Pilgrimage Church
  • Porta Nigra, Trier
  • Osthofentor, Soest
  • Jahrtausendturm, Magdeburg

Greece

Hungary

  • Széchenyi Bath

Ireland

  • Glendalough monastery, County Wicklow
  • Rock of Cashel, County Tipperary
  • Gallarus Oratory, County Kerry

Italy

  • Piazza dei Miracoli (Leaning Tower, Duomo and Baptistry), Pisa
  • Trevi Fountain, Rome
  • Doge's Palace and St Mark's Campanile, Venice
  • Palazzo Pubblico, Siena
  • Villa Capra (La Rotonda), Vicenza
  • Trulli of Alberobello
  • Mount Vesuvius

Latvia

  • Freedom Monument, Riga

Lithuania

Luxembourg

  • Adolphe Bridge, Luxembourg City

Malta

  • Mnajdra temple

Netherlands

  • Munttoren and Montelbaanstoren, Amsterdam
  • City Hall, Maastricht
  • Hoensbroek Castle, Hoensbroek
  • Church and houses, Ootmarsum
  • Abbey and Kloveniersdoelen, Middelburg
  • Museum village of Orvelte
  • Weigh House and Tax Tower, Alkmaar
  • Windmills, Kinderdijk
  • Hoofdtoren and Oude Doelenkade street, Hoorn
  • Town Hall, Veere

Poland

  • Artus Court, Gdańsk
  • Monument to Fallen Shipyard Workers, Gdańsk

Portugal

  • Belém Tower, Lisbon
  • Castle of Guimarães
  • Ribeira, Porto
  • Traditional village of the Algarve
  • Oceanarium, Lisbon

Romania

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

  • Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela
  • El Escorial
  • Plaza de Toros, Seville
  • Christopher Columbus monument, Barcelona
  • Landscape with windmills, La Mancha

Sweden

Ukraine

  • Independence Monument, Kyiv

United Kingdom

  • Houses of Parliament and Elizabeth Tower, London
  • Stratford-upon-Avon (Shakespeare's birth house, Anne Hathaway's cottage, etc.)
  • Longleat House, Wiltshire
  • Royal Crescent and Circus, Bath
  • Dover Castle
  • Arlington Row, Bibury

Other


  • FFSW-1897 Olavinlinna.jpg
  • FFSW-1919 Collégiale Notre-Dame de Dinant.jpg
  • FFSW-1985 Schloss Alden Biesen.jpg
  • FFSW-1992 Palace of Westminster.jpg
  • FFSW-2006 Longleat House.jpg
  • FFSW-2021 Royal Crescent.jpg
  • FFSW-2033 Dover Castle.jpg
  • FFSW-2045 Centre Georges-Pompidou.jpg
  • FFSW-2054 Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre.jpg
  • FFSW-2081 Oceanário de Lisboa.jpg
  • FFSW-2111 Real Sitio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial.jpg
  • FFSW-2125 Tempel von Mnajdra.jpg
  • FFSW-2139 Stift Melk.jpg
  • FFSW-2172 Burg Eltz.jpg
  • FFSW-2185 Blaue Kirche (Sankt-Elisabeth-Kirche).jpg
  • FFSW-2192 Széchenyi-Heilbad.jpg
  • FFSW-2193 St.-Markus-Kirche.jpg

See also

  • Madurodam — Model village in Netherlands containing miniature famous Dutch landmarks
  • Catalunya en Miniatura — miniature park located 17 km away from Barcelona, with an exhibition area of 35.000 m2 including all major buildings of Catalonia and of Antoni Gaudí
  • Italia in miniatura — miniature park near Rimini
  • Bekonscot — typical English village in miniature
  • Huis ten Bosch — Japanese theme park modelled on the cities and landscape of the Low Countries
  • Minimundus miniature park in Klagenfurt, Austria.

External links

References

  1. ↑ "Description - Mini europe" (in en-US). Mini europe. http://www.minieurope.com/en/the-park/description/. 
  2. ↑ "Mini Europe". https://www.introducingbrussels.com/mini-europe#:~:text=The%20park%20receives%20350%2C000%20visitors%20that%20explore%20the%20miniatures%20recognising%20the%20various%20landmarks%20each%20year.. 
  3. ↑ "Press Kit". https://www.minieurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EN_Press-kit-2020.pdf. 
  4. ↑ "Press Kit". https://www.minieurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EN_Press-kit-2020.pdf. 



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