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Bordering Heysel on the east, around 3km north of the city, leafy Laeken is home to the royal family, who occupy a large out-of-bounds estate and have colonized the surrounding parkland with their monuments and memorials. From the south, Laeken is best approached on tram #52 or #92. Get off at the Araucaria tram stop, which is just behind the Pavillon Chinois and just off avenue des Croix. This elegant and attractive replica of a Chinese pavilion was built here by Leopold II after he had seen one at the World Fair in Paris in 1900. The king intended his creation to be a fancy restaurant, but this never materialised and the pavilion now houses a first-rate collection of Chinese and Japanese porcelain (Tues-Sun 10am-4.30pm; ?3, joint ticket with Tour Japonaise ?3.60). Across the road, and reached by a tunnel from beside the pavilion, is the matching Tour Japonaise (same times as Pavillon Chinois; ?2.25, joint ticket with Pavillon Chinois ?3.60), another of Leopold's follies, this time a copy of a Buddhist pagoda with parts made in Paris, Brussels and Yokohama, and now in use as a venue for temporary exhibitions - usually items from the Far East in the Musees Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire. Around the corner behind the railings, along the congested avenue du Parc Royal, is the sedate Chateau Royal , the main royal palace. Built in 1790, its most famous occupant was Napoleon, who stayed here on a number of occasions and signed the declaration of war on Russia here in 1812. Before the chateau is the Serres Royales , enormous greenhouses built for Leopold II, covering almost four acres and sheltering a mind-boggling variety of tropical and Mediterranean flora. The only problem is the restricted opening hours - the greenhouses are open to the public only during April and May and the queues to see them can be daunting. Opposite the front of the royal palace, a wide footpath leads up to the fanciful neo-Gothic monument erected in honour of Leopold I, the focal point of the pretty Parc de Laeken . The park is also home to the Stuyvenbergh Castle, once the residence of Emperor Charles V's architect, Louis Van Bodeghem, although now used to accommodate high-ranking foreign dignitaries. One kilometre further south along avenue du Parc Royal is Laeken cemetery , the last resting place of many influential Belgians including the architect Joseph Poelaert (who designed the Palais de Justice), and artist Jef Dillen, whose tomb is marked by a copy of Rodin's The Thinker . Also buried here is Maria Felicia Garcia, the famous Spanish soprano better known as Maria Malibran. At the cemetery's entrance stands the neo-Gothic style church of Notre Dame de Liken , which was designed by Joseph Poelaert and built in memory of Belgium's first Queen, Louise-Marie. Many of the country's royals are buried here within the Royal Crypt.
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