Mini-Europe

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. Mini-Europe receives 350,000 visitors per year and has a turnover of €4 million.

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 . The initial investment was of €10 million in 1989, on its inauguration by then-Prince Philip of Belgium.

Exhibits

Building the monuments

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. Three of the monuments were made out of 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 model cost €350,000 to make. 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

Austria

• Melk Abbey

Belgium

• Grand-Place / City Hall, Brussels
• The Belfry, Bruges
• Town Hall, Leuven
• Castle of Vêves, Celles
• Citadel and Notre-Dame Church, Dinant
• Berlaymont building, Brussels
• Graslei street and the Rabot, Ghent
• Alden Biesen Castle, Rijkhoven
• Main square of Antwerp (City Hall, Brabo statue, guild houses)
• Curtius House, Liège

Bulgaria

• Rila Monastery, Rila Mountain, part of the UNESCO World Heritage

Croatia

• St. Mark's Church, Zagreb

Cyprus

• Ancient Greek theatre, Kourion

Czech Republic

• Prague Orloj

Denmark

• Viking ring fort
• Nyhavn waterfront, Copenhagen
• Børsen (old stock exchange), Copenhagen

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

• Acropolis, Athens
• Traditional village, Santorini

Hungary

• Széchenyi Bath

Ireland

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

Italy

• Piazza dei Miracoli (Leaning Tower, Duomo, 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

• Vilnius University campus, Vilnius

Luxembourg

• Adolphe Bridge, Luxembourg City

Malta

• Mnajdra temple

Netherlands

• Mint Tower and Montelbaan Tower, Amsterdam
• Town 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

• Mogoșoaia Palace, near Bucharest

Slovakia

• The Blue Church in Bratislava

Slovenia

• Prešeren Square with Tromostovje in Ljubljana

Spain

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

Sweden

• City Hall, Stockholm

Ukraine

• Independence Monument, Kyiv

United Kingdom

• Houses of Parliament / Big Ben, 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

• Ariane 5
• Pride of Dover ferry
• An airport
• A Ferris wheel
• A North Sea oil platform
• TGV train
• Calypso (Jacques Cousteau's ship)

External links

• Mini-Europe official website
• Mini-Europe in Brussels