Régent, Boulevard du/Regentlaan

   A section of the inner ring road that replaced the second town wall, the boulevard du Régent runs from the rue de Namur to place Surlet de Chokier. It was designed by Jean Vifquain in 1819 when leveling of the ramparts was still underway. In 1821, it was paved and officially called boulevard du Prince in honor of the prince of Orange, son of King William I. It was renamed boulevard du Régent on 1 August 1831 in hommage to Baron Erasme Surlet de Chokier, who served as regent pending the arrival of King Leopold I. Until 1860, it was separated from the avenue des Arts by a grill to prevent smuggling of goods and evasion of toll payments, and, in 1850, the porte Léopold was opened at the juncture of rue Bel-liard to facilitate links between the city and the burgeoning Léopold district. Arthur Rimbaud composed a poem titled Boulevard du Régent while in Brussels with Paul Verlaine in 1872.