Squares & Public Places

The Grand-Place

Ornamental gables, medieval banners, gilded facades, sunlight flashing off gold-filigreed rooftop sculptures, a general impression of harmony and timelessness -- there's a lot to take in all at once when you first enter the Grand-Place (Métro: Gare Centrale or Bourse), which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. You could translate this into English as "Big Square" or "Main Square" or something similar, but to do so would seem to remove all class from the name of what is beyond a doubt one of Europe's most handsome city squares. Today its elegant grace survives its role as the center of Brussels's tourist circuit. Once the pride of the Habsburg Empire, the Grand-Place (Grote Markt in Dutch) has always been the very heart of Brussels. Jean Cocteau called it "a splendid stage."

Down the ages, the Grand-Place has seen just about everything a harsh world has to offer, including one episode, in 1695, when it was blown to bits by enemy artillery. Its present composition dates mostly from the late 1690s, thanks to France's Louis XIV. In 1695 his army lined up its big guns on the heights of Anderlecht and blasted away at the medieval Grand-Place, using the Town Hall spire as a target marker. The French gunners destroyed the square, but, ironically, the Town Hall spire escaped undamaged. Other structures were not so fortunate, however, among them the wood-fronted buildings of the great trading and mercantile guilds.

But the Bruxellois weren't about to let a mere French king do away with their centuries-old corporate headquarters. The guildsmen had the place up and running again within 4 years, on the same grand scale as before but on more solid foundations. Each guild competed to outdo the others with highly ornate facades of gold leaf and statuary, often with emblems of their guilds. Thanks to the town's close monitoring of later alterations, the baroque splendor of these buildings has been preserved. The result throws one's sense of time out of joint, as the medieval atmosphere is conjured up mostly in the richly decorated baroque style known as the Flemish Renaissance. The Town Hall, though badly damaged by Louis's guns, is the real thing, however, dating from the early 1400s.

Top honors go to the Gothic Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall) and the neo-Gothic Maison du Roi (King's House) Don't miss the cafes lodged within the opulent wooden interiors of old guild houses; their upper-floor windows overlooking the Grand-Place give some of the best views in Europe. And be sure to take in the son-et-lumière on summer evenings in the Grand-Place. This is a sound-and-light show in which appropriately grand music plays as the historic square's buildings are dramatically highlighted. It is admittedly kind of kitsch. But who cares? It's also magical. Or you can stop by at noon, when the tower of the Maison du Roi plays golden carillon chimes reminiscent of an earlier European era

It's only natural the magnificent Grand-Place should be the setting for some of Brussels's most memorable free events. On the first Tuesday and Thursday in July, you can watch the Ommegang, a parade of noble families dressed in historical costumes. Mid-August in even-numbered years, the Carpet of Flowers covers the cobblestones with two of a million begonias arranged in a kind of tapestry. During Christmastime a large tree is erected at the center and a crèche is placed at the lower end, and the square hosts the city's Christmas Market.

A Detailed Tour of the Square

The Grand-Place is one of those places that repays both a generalized visual sweep around the entire ensemble to absorb the spectacle whole and entire, and a careful, close-up perusal of the myriad details, large and small, that make up an entity greater than the sum of its parts. Several streets lead onto the rectangle of the Grand-Place. Coming from the direction of Gare Centrale, you will most likely enter the square at its southeastern angle, on rue de la Colline, off of rue du Marché-aux-Herbes.

Going clockwise around the square from this point, you begin with the long building to your left, nos. 13 through 19, a harmonious array of seven mansions behind a single facade, known collectively as the Maison des Ducs de Brabant (House of the Dukes of Brabant) [ST]. The impressive house dates from 1698 and is adorned with busts of 19 dukes of the ancient duchy of Brabant on the pilasters, and with a curved pediment below which is a sculptured allegory of Abundance. From first to last, the seven mansions are: no. 19, La Bourse (The Stock Exchange) -- not to be confused with the city's main Stock Exchange; no. 18, La Colline (The Hill), formerly the Stonemasons' Guildhouse; no. 17, Le Pot d'Etain (The Pewter Tankard), formerly the Carpenters' Guildhouse; no. 16, Le Moulin à Vent (The Windmill), formerly the Millers' Guildhouse; no. 15, La Fortune (Fortune), formerly the Tanners' Guildhouse; no. 14, L'Ermitage (The Hermitage), also known as L'Ecrevisse (The Crayfish); and no. 13, La Renommé (Fame). A point of contemporary interest is the traditional Belgian restaurant 't Kelderke, in the cellar at no. 15. The small but tasty Musée du Cacao et du Chocolat (Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate), Grand-Place 13 (tel. 02/514-20-48; www.mucc.be), introduces you to some of the secrets of Belgium's love affair with handmade pralines. The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday (also Mon July-Aug) from 10:30am to 4pm; admission is 5€ ($6.25) for adults, 4€ ($5) for seniors and students, and free for children under 12. Next door, on the corner of rue des Chapeliers, is no. 12A, a private residence called L'Alsemberg.

Cross over rue des Chapeliers, a street that leads to an enclave of cheap Greek and Middle Eastern snack bars. On this side of the Grand-Place are two relatively unadorned private homes: Le Mont Thabor from 1699 at no. 12 and La Rose (The Rose) from 1702, at no. 11, named for the Van der Rosen family who lived in an earlier incarnation of the house during the 15th century.

Continuing around, no. 10, dubbed L'Arbre d'Or (The Golden Tree), and also known as the Maison des Brasseurs Belges (House of the Belgian Brewers), from 1698, continues to be headquarters of the Brewers' Guild, and is the location of the neat little Musée des Brasseurs Belge (Belgian Brewers' Museum), where you get an introduction to an age-old brewing tradition that has bequeathed this small nation some 450 different beers. On the roof is a gilded equestrian sculpture from 1901 of Duke Charles of Lorraine. The next house, no. 9, also from 1698, is called Le Cygne (The Swan), as you might guess from the sculptured swan above the doorway. The Butchers' Guildhouse from 1720 onward, it now houses the ultrarefined Belgian/French restaurant La Maison du Cygne, the entrance being around the corner on rue Charles Buls. Standing as if on stilts, no. 8, L'Etoile (The Star), is a small house that was demolished in 1852 and rebuilt in 1897 over the archway on rue Charles Buls. You might as well do what every visitor does and ensure some good luck by rubbing the bronze deathbed sculpture of Everard 't Serclaes, on this side street. Serclaes was a 14th-century local hero who freed the city from the clutches of the counts of Flanders, and who later died from wounds received while resisting another would-be conqueror.

The monumental Gothic building across rue Charles Buls is the Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall), a glorious statement of Brussels's medieval pride and prestige .

Cross over rue de la Tête d'Or to the northwest face of the square. At no. 7 Le Renard (The Fox), formerly the Haberdashers' Guildhouse, dates from 1699. Look out for the reliefs of typical haberdashery tasks on the busy facade, along with sculptures representing Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas, and on the roof a statue of St. Nicholas, the guild's patron saint. Among the most interesting houses on the square is no. 6, the Italian-Flemish Le Cornet (The Horn), from 1697, which takes its name from a relief of a horn above the doorway. This was the Boatmen's Guildhouse, as you might well guess from the nautical images on the facade and the pediment in the shape of a sailing ship's stern. Images of ancient Rome adorn the facade of no. 5, La Louve (The She-Wolf), also in the Italian-Flemish style, from 1696, among them the classic image of Romulus and Remus being suckled by a she-wolf. Look out also for the medallions of the emperors Trajan, Tiberius, Augustus, and Julius Caesar, on a building that was the Archers' Guildhouse.

No. 4, Le Sac (The Sack), formerly the Carpenters' and Coopers' Guildhouse, is notable in that the lower floors survived the 1695 French bombardment, and this part of the house dates from 1644. The post-bombardment rebuilding of the upper floors follows the original style. Likewise, no. 3, La Brouette (The Wheelbarrow), survived the French guns more-or-less intact, though the 1645 facade was embellished in later years, and there's a sculpture of St. Gilles, the guild's patron saint, on the gable. The Bakers' Guild clearly wasn't short of either cash or cachet in those days, and they invested plenty of both in their guild house at nos. 1 and 2, Le Roy d'Espagne (The King of Spain) [ST], from 1697. A neoclassical Italianate look extends to a cupola surmounted by a gilded weather vane. Medallions pick up the Roman notion from La Louve , this time with images of emperors Marcus Aurelius, Nerva, Decius, and Trajan. But the best part of this ornate building is that it houses one of Brussels's finest traditional cafes, and even if its location has ensured that it's become a touristy one, be sure to invest some time in a drink at one of the upstairs tables, looking out on the beautiful cobbled square.

You now cross over rue au Beurre. The row of houses from nos. 39 to 34 forms the plainest segment of buildings on the Grand-Place, allowing you a break from detailed facade-perusing. From left to right, the six are called L'Ane (The Donkey), Ste-Barbe (St. Barbara), Le Chêne (The Oak Tree), Le Peitit Renard (The Little Fox), Le Paon (The Peacock), and Le Heaume (The Helmet). Across rue Chair et Pain is the neo-Gothic Maison du Roi (King's House), which houses the City Museum .

Moving on across rue des Harengs, you arrive at the final segment of buildings. No. 28 has a strange name (even by the standard set by some of the others). It's called La Chambrette de l'Amman (The Little Chamber of the Amman), from 1709. The Amman was the name for a kind of early mayor of the city, a minion of the dukes of Brabant. An alternate name is Le Marchand d'Or (The Gold Merchant), presumably because it was once a gold merchant's premises. Nos. 26 and 27, Le Pigeon (The Pigeon), from 1697, was the Painters' Guildhouse. In the 1850s Victor Hugo spent part of his time in exile from France here, firing off literary broadsides at Napoleon III until the City Fathers asked him to leave town for fear the scandalized French emperor would send an army to bring him back. Now the house is home to a fine lace store, the Maison Antoine (see "Shopping").

St. Boniface, a native of Brussels, blesses passersby from the roof of nos. 24 and 25, known as La Chaloupe d'Or (The Golden Sloop), or the Maison des Tailleurs (House of the Tailors), whose guild house it once was. Nowadays, under its first-mentioned name, it's another of the Grand-Place's standout cafes. A bust of St. Barbara, the patroness of tailors, is above the doorway. No. 23, L'Ange (The Angel), from 1697, is a private house in the Italian Flemish style, graced by Doric and Ionic pilasters. Nos. 21 and 22 and 20, respectively known as Joseph et Anne (Joseph and Anne), from 1700, and Le Cerf (The Stag), from 1710, are relatively plain private dwellings. Le Cerf houses a private society of the same name.

Christmas in the Grand-Place

One of the great Brussels Christmas traditions is the kidnapping of the infant Jesus. This is not a case of Belgians reinterpreting the New Testament story, but the handiwork of Christmas pranksters -- thieves, if you prefer -- who make off with the doll that plays the part of Jesus lying in the crib in the Nativity scene at the Grand-Place. Fresh supplies of Jesus dolls have to be kept on-hand to keep the Holy Family up to strength, since it is generally agreed that a Nativity scene without the child Jesus is a great disappointment to visitors.

Assuming that all the characters are present, however, the view of the Holy Family in the Grand-Place is a memorable one. The warmly lit windows of the square's 17th-century guild houses, the Town Hall's extravagant Gothic tracery, and the scarcely less fantastic neo-Gothic lines of the King's House make a picturesque backdrop to the manger-in-a-stable scene, and the real sheep and goats wandering around the grounds add a charming touch. So far, no one has stolen any of the animals, but it's probably only a matter of time. The stable is dominated by a giant illuminated Christmas tree, which is donated every year by a foreign country.

When freshly fallen snow covers the cobbles, the whole storybook square glows like an icon. In so many ways, and at different times of year, the Grand-Place is the city's showcase. Christmas is no exception.

Two weekends before Christmas is the occasion for the European Union Christmas Market in the Grand-Place. From Friday evening until Sunday evening, the square is a hub of activity, as each country of the E.U. sets out its stall with traditional foods and other products. There's music, singing, and dancing, and the festive spirit is fueled by mulled wine and typical national drinks. The main problem is that at times the square gets so busy that it is almost impossible to move. Still, this is another colorful and memorable event.

Brussels's Other Principal Squares

In addition to the Grand-Place, a number of other historic squares are scattered across the center city, each one of them different, and each one well worth strolling around.

Place du Grand-Sablon--Though the traffic passing through it diminishes the experience, the square (tram: 92, 93, or 94) is filled with sidewalk cafes and lined with gabled mansions, and locals consider it a classier place to see and be seen than the Grand-Place. The Grand-Sablon is also antiques territory; many of its mansions house antiques stores or private art galleries with pricey merchandise on display. The dealerships have spread into neighboring side streets as well. Saturday and Sunday mornings, an excellent antiques market sets up its stalls in front of the Eglise Notre-Dame du Sablon. At the lower end of the square, the statue of Minerva dates from 1751 and was a gift from England's earl of Aylesbury.

Place du Petit-Sablon--Just across rue de la Régence is the Grand-Sablon's little cousin (tram: 92, 93, or 94). An ornamental garden with a fountain and pool, it's a magical little retreat from the city bustle. The 48 bronze statuettes adorning the surrounding wrought-iron fence symbolize Brussels's medieval guilds. Two statues in the center commemorate the counts of Egmont and Hornes, who were beheaded in 1568 for protesting the cruelties of the Council of Blood, the enforcement arm of Spain's Holy Inquisition in the Low Countries.

Place Royale--Brussels's royal square (tram: 92, 93, or 94) stands at the meeting point of rue de la Régence and rue Royale, two streets that hold many of the city's premier attractions. The square, which was laid out in 18th-century neoclassical style by the French architect Barre, is graced by an appropriately heroic equestrian statue of the leader of the First Crusade, Duke Godefroid de Bouillon. The inscription describes him as the "First King of Jerusalem," a title Godefroid himself refused, accepting instead that of Protector of the Holy Places (which amounted to the same thing). Also on place Royale is the neoclassical Eglise St-Jacques-sur-Coudenberg. Archaeologists have excavated the foundations of the Royal Palace of Emperor Charles V in the square, but the site has been covered over again.

A fascinating, underground extension of the Bellevue Museum is the Palais du Coudenberg (Coudenberg Palace), place des Palais 7 (tel. 02/548-04-48) -- or more accurately the excavated ground floor and foundations of this sometime palace of the dukes of Burgundy and the Habsburg emperors that burned to the ground in 1731. Among rooms you can visit are the 1533 private chapel of Emperor Charles V and the Magna Aula (Throne Room) where he abdicated in 1555. The palace is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm. Admission is included in the ticket for the Bellevue Museum.

Place des Martyrs--A few years ago this once elegant 18th-century square (Métro: Brouckère), in the lower city near the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, where the "500 Martyrs" of Belgium's 1830 War of Independence are entombed, was in a sorry state, literally crumbling to the ground. It has been extensively restored, and though it lost some of its former ragged charm in the process, the square is once again an important and attractive public place.