 For the protection of the Archduchess, as she made her way to her devotions in the cathedral (this being the height of the Wars of Religion), the street which skirts the "Aula Magna" and the chapel was extended almost as far as the Cathedral of Saint-Michael-and-Gudula, and renamed / ("Isabella Street").As art lovers, the archdukes brought to their court the best artists of the time, Jan Brueghel and Rubens among them, to decorate the palace with their works.On the night of 3 February 1731, a fire broke out in the kitchens and quickly engulfed the entire palace.