Royal Greenhouses of Laeken

This guide to the Royal Greenhouses of Laeken in Brussels centers on King Leopold II, who toured London's Crystal Palace and commissioned architect Alphonse Balat to build something grander: the fifty-seven-metre Winter Garden of curved iron and glass you're standing under. You'll hear where the fortune behind all this glass and imported greenery actually came from, and about a hidden underground corridor Leopold had built between this pavilion and the palace. Listen for how an octagonal room meant for palm trees became something else entirely in the king's final years.