But it was not until the Napoleonic period that Brussels began to replace its
fortifications, which followed the line of the medieval wall, by a ring of boulevards.
This vast enterprise, which was to continue for much of the nineteenth century, resulted
in what are known as the boulevards de ceinture. Apart from a few sections these
boulevards do not appear to have functioned as streets of central importance in the life of
the town, in the same way as the grandes boulevards in Paris; they served above all to
mark the boundaries between the town and its neighbouring municipalities, and as traffic
routes; this last function was reinforced during the present century, when alterations
transformed the boulevards de ceinture into a traffic artery pure and simple.