Jean-Felix Hap Garden
Jardin Jean-Félix Hap

A small but cute park tucked away in Brussels.

Walking through Brussels? Jean-Felix Hap Garden is worth a stop when you’re in the area. The garden is quiet and calm most days with some crowds on the summer weekends. The garden is meant to be a bit of a quiet sanctuary in the busy city, so cycling, ball games, and picnics aren’t allowed. If you’re looking for a calm, relaxing breather in Brussels or a quiet spot to read then the garden should be on your trip list.

Sights to see

The garden is only 1 hectare, so it’s easy to take a relaxing stroll through the park to see everything.

• The Orangery was originally a stable built in 1850 used by the Hap family. These days it’s full of pretty plants Castle ruins: when the first owner, Albert-Joseph Hap, lived here he stayed in the 16th century castle on the edge of the pond. You can still see the ruins of the two three-storey towers. Later generations of the Hap family found the castle to be too humid and beyond repair, so they built another home by the park on Chaussée de Wavre.
• The gazebo: a charming octagonal gazebo popular for walkers exploring the city and the occasional local reading a book on their lunch break.
• Nature & wildlife: the garden is full of trees including maples, a black locust tree, and a horse chestnut. Some common wildlife can be found here too like frogs, woodpeckers, herrings and wrens.

History of the Hap garden

Long story short, this garden has passed through the hands of the Hap family since the 1800s until their last descendant Jean-Félix Hap gave it to the city in 1988. Now, the city is slowly restoring the Hap manor next door.

Once owned by the former major and brewer Albert-Joseph Hap. His son, François-Louis Hap, inherited the estate and built most of what we see today including the stables and orangey. The next generations of Haps also did work on the park, including the wife of Félix Hap who planted many of the trees that we can still see today and the vegetable garden.

• Jean-Félix, who the park is named after and the son of Félix Hap, then demolished his mother’s greenhouses and turned it into a landscape garden.
• The beautiful neoclassical house just outside the park (508 Chaussée de Wavre) is currently undergoing repairs. The house was commissioned by François-Louis Hap in 1859.