Brussels, Belgium
October is not exactly known for its stable weather in Western Europe, but this year the third week of October is full of beautiful, sunny autumn weather. Perfect circumstances to go out for a city trip. Our destination: Brussels, the French-speaking capital of Dutch/French-speaking Belgium.
From home base Leiden it’s a three-hour train ride to Brussels Central, the train station in the heart of the city. From the station it is only a few minutes’ walk to the Grand Place (Dutch: Grote Markt), the large square in the historic centre that is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. When you walk onto the square from the narrow side streets (and ignore the many tourists for a moment), you cannot help but be impressed by the historic architecture. The Grand Place is surrounded by grand guild houses with narrow, high and richly decorated facades. Most of these houses date from the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.
On the southwest side of the cobblestone square stands the imposing Hôtel de Ville (Dutch: Stadhuis), built in the fifteenth century in Gothic style, with a 96-metre-high tower and an asymmetrical facade with dozens of statues. Opposite the town hall stands the Maison du Roi (Dutch: Broodhuis), built towards the end of the nineteenth century in the then popular neo-Gothic style. It is the third building on this site and in Dutch it is named after the medieval ‘bread house’ that stood here and where bread was actually sold. The city museum is housed in the current building. Not far from the Grand Place is the Bourse (Dutch: Beurs), the stock exchange built at the end of the nineteenth century. The neoclassical building with large columns and the appearance of a Greek temple now houses, among other things, a beer museum.
A few streets from the Grand Place stands the most famous statue in Brussels, and perhaps in the whole of Belgium: Manneken Pis. The bronze statue of a peeing boy, measuring just 55 centimetres (and once voted the world’s most disappointing tourist attraction), dates from 1619, but the original is in the museum at the Maison du Roi and the current statue is a replica from 1965. Manneken Pis is actually naked, but has been given a different costume several times a week since the last century, provided by the ‘The Order of the Friends of Manneken Pis’.
On the west side of the historic centre lies Quartier Dansaert (Dutch: Dansaertwijk), also known as the Flemish Quarter because of the many Flemish people who live here. Here you will find the Halles Saint Géry (Dutch: Sint Gorikshallen), a former red brick market hall built in 1881, which is now used as a grand café, exhibition space and for events. It is said to be located on the spot where Brussels was founded and functions as ‘kilometre zero’, the place from which all distances in Belgium are measured. Furthermore, in this pleasant district you will find many restaurants and cafés around the Place Sainte-Catherine (Dutch: Sint Katelijneplein), the Vieux Marché aux Grains (Dutch: Oude Graanmarkt) and the Marché aux Poissons (Dutch: Vismarkt).
In the northern part of the center you will find two squares that could not be more different. On the Place de la Monnaie (Dutch: Muntplein) is the opera house La Monnaie (Dutch: De Munt), where in 1830 the uprising of the Southern against the Northern Netherlands began. It’s a busy square, partly due to the large and modern shopping center The Mint opposite. The Place des Martyrs (Dutch: Martelaarsplein), on the other hand, is located a bit outside the shopping area and is very quiet. In the middle of the square is the Pro Patria monument, where soldiers are buried who died in the war of independence against the Northern Netherlands.
Not far from here, in a side street of the Beenhouwersstraat, where many cafés and restaurants are located, you will find the Manneken Pis’ little sister. Jeanneke Pis is a statue of a peeing girl placed here in 1987. (Since 1998, a third statue has been placed near the Vieux Marché aux Grains, completing the ‘peeing trilogy’ of Brussels: Zinneke Pis, a peeing dog). Not far from Jeanneke are the Galeries St-Hubert (Dutch: Sint Hubertusgalerijen), a complex of three covered shopping arcades: the King’s Gallery, the Queen’s Gallery and the Prince’s Gallery. Built in 1847, the Galeries St-Hubert was the first covered shopping arcade in Europe.
After an evening enjoying typical Flemish food and Belgian beer (tip: restaurant Nuëtnigenough), we start our second day in Brussels at the Rue de la Loi (Dutch: Wetstraat). Here stands the Palais de la Nation (Dutch: Paleis der Natie), where the federal parliament of Belgium is located. A huge Belgian and European flag flutters above the stately neoclassical building. The Palais de la Nation overlooks the Parque de Bruxelles (Dutch: Park van Brussel or Warandepark). The symmetrically park, laid out in the eighteenth century with a fountain and various statues, is dressed in beautiful autumn colours during our visit.
On the other side of the Parc de Bruxelles stands the Palais Royal (Dutch: Koninklijk Paleis), dating from 1820. This is the working palace of the Belgian king, his residence is the Royal Castle of Laeken. Via the Place Royal (Dutch: Koningsplein), which is busy and noisy due to construction work, we walk past Le Petit Sablon (Dutch: de Kleine Zavel), a small park with a statue of the Counts of Egmont and Hoorn. The two Dutch counts were convicted in 1568 by the Duke of Alva for rebelling against the Spanish king and beheaded in front of the Maison du Roi on Place Grande.
A little further on, the imposing Palais de Justice (Dutch: Justitiepaleis) looms up. Unfortunately, we don’t see much of the courthouse, built at the end of the nineteenth century by order of King Leopold II: it’s being renovated and is almost completely covered in scaffolding. We later find out that this has been the case for years and is expected to last until at least 2030…
The Palais de Justice is located on the Coudenberg (Dutch: Koudenberg), a higher part of Brussels. Between the Coudenberg and the lower part of the city (including the Grand Place) is the Mont des Arts (Dutch: Kunstberg), a slope with a symmetrically laid out garden and a statue of King Albert. From the top of the Mont des Arts you have a beautiful view of the ‘skyline’ of Brussels. The architecture here is also worth a visit, especially the neo-Gothic Pharmacie Anglaise (Dutch: Apotheek Delacre) dating from 1898 and the Old England Building, a former department store from 1899 with a striking Art Nouveau facade.
The last sight we visit in Brussels is outside the historic centre, about twenty minutes away by metro. The Atomium is to Brussels what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris. The iconic sculpture was built on the occasion of the World Exhibition in 1958 and symbolises technical and scientific progress. The 102-metre-high structure consists of nine interconnected spheres, which together form an iron crystal.
We conclude our visit to Brussels on the pleasant Rue du Marché aux Herbes (Dutch: Grasmarkt) with once more Flemish food and Belgian beer (second tip: restaurant Ommegang), after which we take the train back home.
