Auderghem: a village on the edge of the Sonian Forest

In the southeast of the Region, the municipality of Auderghem is relatively little known and often associated with the affluent dormitory neighborhoods of the second half of the 20th century. But beyond the Boulevard du Souverain, Auderghem takes on the air of a small Brabant village, whose history owes much to the proximity of the Sonian Forest. Born in the Woluwe valley, influenced by the establishment of several religious orders on the edge of the forest massif, Auderghem attracted, from the 19th century, the villas, castles, and mansions of the Brussels bourgeoisie, near the Tervurenlaan. Paradoxically, it is also in this neighborhood that one then finds a large working-class population, employed notably in the laundries of the Woluwe valley: as evidenced by numerous rows of workers' houses in this neighborhood called "old Auderghem". From the Sainte-Anne church to the Rouge-Cloître, picturesque alleys and dead ends, chapels, and priories invite you on a journey through time and reveal a more secret side of the municipality, on the margins of the major road axes.