Brussels is a city of many cultures and a rich history. But mostly, it is a city for beer and chocolate lovers. So, it is automatically one of my favorite cities.
City TourArt NouveauComics MuralsEU Quarter
Brussels' main square--Grand Place in French or Grote Markt in Dutch--is surrounded by gilded townhouses representing the many guilds during the Middle Ages. The guildhalls were later transformed into apartments. Victor Hugo lived in the guilded townhouse second from the left in 1862 and published Les Misérables in Brussels.
The guildhall to the left was the largest one on the main square and belonged to the bread guild, the wealthiest guild at the time. The bread guildhall was built in Gothic style in reference to royalty and contrasts the more modern Baroque style of the other guildhalls. Currently, the bread hall houses The Museum of the City of Brussels.
A closer look on the imposing bread guildhall with some more guildhalls to the left and the Christmas tree peeking into the shot. While the bread guildhall might look like the oldest building on the square, it was actually destroyed along with most of the rest of the square in 1695. The bread guildhall was rebuilt shortly after along with the rest of the guildhouses but this one was built in neo-gothic style while the rest were built in the contemporary baroque style.
To the left of the bread guildhall is a row of guildhouses. If you look closely, you might be able to discern signs that explain the specialization of the guild. For instance, as suggested by the waterhorses, the second one from the left is likely the guildhouse of seafarers. If you look at the pediment of the house on the right, you will notice an archer in full motion. This house likely belonged to hunters who sold meat and fur. If you look just above the Starbucks' awning on the house to the right, you will notice a bunch of tools. This guild likely belonged to craftsmen. Finally, if you look a little more to the right, you will notice wheelbarrows, suggesting that this guild belonged to transporters.
Across the bread guildhall and to the left of the aforementioned row of guild houses is the Town Hall. Initially built in 1420, it consisted only of the belfry and the wing to the left of the belfry. When the guilds were welcomed to the government, the building was expanded to the right. As a result of the different construction time periods, the architecture of the two wings is slightly different. Also, the right wing is thinner than the original as there was not enough space to make them of equal width. The figures on the façade are of nobles, saints and other public figures. The originals are now housed in the Museum of the City of Brussels across the square.
To the left of the Town Hall, there are more examples of typical guildhalls. The one topped with an equestrian statue is the only one that has a function today that ties back to the specialization of the guild; this house was once the guild house of the brewers.
Another random fact: Between 1845 and 1848, Karl Marx and his family lived in the guildhall with the duck. Only a couple years separated Marx and Hugo from meeting on the main square in Brussels.
The nativity scene on the main square in December
Between the two sets of guildhalls is the Maison Grand-Place. It used to be the home of Brussels' ruler. Now it houses a hotel, a conference hall, a hard rock cafe and a traditional restaurant. The locals joke that the building is in the middle of an identity crisis.
Between the Town Hall and the second row of townhouses, there is a small tunnel with a relief sculpture dedicated to Everard t'Serclaes, who is celebrated as a patriot and liberator of Brussels. In 1356, Brussels was attacked and quickly taken over. The city was closed and the people inside were barred from importing any resources, with the goal of starving the dwellers to force them to surrender to the new ruler. Everard t'Serclaes, however, scaled the wall leading a group of citizens and opened the city from within, thus retaking the city for the original rulers.
Years later, Everard t'Serclaes blocked the sale of crown land to a local rival and was then jumped by the son of the rival. Everard t'Serclaes died five days later.
Many tourists now rub the statue for various reasons rubbing off the black polish and exposing the golden color below. It is said that if you rub the arm, you will come back to Brussels and that if you rub the frog in the bottom left, you will have luck. The locals, however, dislike this practice because it ruins the somber look of the dark polish.
This five-star hotel, right behind Town Hall, was once the prison of the city.
Continuing down the street, you will bask in the smell of fresh made waffles. While all of the displays show waffles covered in many toppings, the locals insist that the best way to eat a good Belgian waffle is either to eat it plain or with a little bit of chantilly. I have to agree: the batter is so delicious that it would be a crime to cover it up with anything else.
A little known fact is that Belgium has more famous comic book authors per square mile than any other country in the world. Well-known cartoons have originated from Belgian authors, such as Tin-Tin, Lucky Luke and the Smurfs. Brussels has 67 murals all over the city of these famous comics and plenty of sites detail the various locations of these comics murals. I went on a little comics mural walk myself. To check out some of the murals I saw, head to the other tab.
Further down the street is the famous peeing boy: Manneken Pis. He has a personal costumer and is often dressed in relation to some event happening in the city. There is even a security camera installed to ensure that no one steals his costumes. Those costumes are then stored in a museum dedicated to Manneken Pis costumes.
There are many legends behind the Manneken Pis statue but the one that I liked the most has to do with courage. In order to take the city, foreign troupes placed a bomb just outside the city to explode the walls. The little boy, named Julien, went outside and peed over the bomb, thus extinguishing it and saving the city. The real motivation for this statue will however never be known. The earliest record of it is in the 14th century with no description on the meaning behind it.
On the other side of Grand Place, near the Galleries Saint Hubert, a statue was recently built of the female version: Jeanneke Pis.
Entrance to the Galleries Royales Saint-Hubert
Due to Brussels' typical rainy weather, the Queen had these galleries built so she could do her shopping even when the weather wasn't particularly pleasant. The Galleries have three main sections, the two large sections being Gallerie de la Reine and Gallerie du Roi and the smaller section bring Gallerie des Princes. The Galleries were built in the mid-19th century and initially required an entrance fee. This made the Galleries rather exclusive and kept the commoners away from the wealthy. During the 1960s, the entrance fee was removed and now anyone can stroll through the galleries between the chocolate stores.
This Neuhaus store, opened in 1857, is the first ever Neuhaus store. The founder--Jean Neuhaus--was an apothecary who covered medicine with chocolate to make it more appealing. Later, his grandson, Jean Neuhaus II, replaced the medicine inside the chocolate with creme and this gave birth to the famous Belgian praline.
While the praline is Belgian, the founder of the Neuhaus brand is not. Jean Neuhaus was actually a Swiss expat who fell in love with Brussels and chose to stay in the city.
In the original Neuhaus store, you can find all sorts of chocolate creations. The newest icon of store are the various triangular nougatines. Also, notice the smurfs in the background. Throughout the city, there are little items pointing to the world-famous Belgian comics.
Construction of the St Michael and St Gudula Cathedral started in 1226. The count ordered the church to be built in memory of St Gudula, who was a nun who gave food to the poor. She is believed to be the protector of the city. The church took two centuries to complete.
Inside the Cathedral
The Gothic cathedral that we see today was built on top of a Romanesque church dating back to the early 11th century. The remains of the church can be seen through grates in the floor of the current church.
Belgium's King and Queen are the figures under which the multi-faceted Belgian population unites. With the various languages and cultures all in the same country, there are often tensions between the different regions. Yet, when it comes to the royalty, the Belgians are said to be united in their support for their national figures. The only other thing that unites the Belgians as well as the royals is the national soccer team.
Currently, Queen Mathilde and King Philippe have taken the political positions. Their eldest daughter, Princess Elisabeth, is the first in line for the throne and will be the first Queen Regent after the law removing gender from the succession consideration ten years ago. This imposing building is the Royal Palace and houses the office of the regent.
This large building behind the royal palace houses a courthouse in the left wing, a church in the center and an art gallery in the right wing. It towers over the Mont des Arts hill.
This interesting-looking building is just one of the museums around Mont des Arts. Notice the sign to the right of the door. Having signs in French, Dutch and English is very typical in Brussels and highlights the multicultural nature of the city and region.
More than that though, I found this to be a rather comic example of the differences in languages. While the French like to use a lot of words to describe something, counting 5 words, the Flemish language has a tendency of simply sticking all adjectives to the noun and creating an impossibly long word. The English are right in the middle, keeping all the words separated but also doing away with unnecessary stop words.
Head to the Art Nouveau tab to learn more about this architectural style!
When World War I broke out, Belgium was only 83 years old. As a small and new country, they were not a particularly strong country. As a clearly stronger country, Germany thought that they could strong-arm their way to occupying the Belgians. King Albert wouldn't hear of it though. He refused to be used as a convenient path for the Germans and told the Belgian Parliament that "a country which is defending itself conquers the respect of all;
such a country does not perish!" He wanted to set a precedent that Belgium is not to be taken lightly. He had also already secured the protection of the UK. So, when Germany declared war on Belgium, the UK declared war on Germany. King Albert is honored with a statue in the park named Mont des Arts. The name of the park translates to the Mountain of the Arts likely due to the fact that the park is on the side of a hill and surrounded by a dozen of art and music museums.
Toone, located on Impasse Schuddeveld 6, is a puppet-themed bar. While that sounds rather strange, the puppets are not very prevalent, the staff is very friendly and the beer is cheap and unique. I would highly recommend this bar to anyone visiting Brussels.
Speaking of beers, Belgium is the home of the sour beer. It is made from spontaneous fermentation back when the monks had trouble maintaining constant conditions for the proper fermentation of beer. I am told that it is the only beer that gets better with age. (Personally, I thought that the beer was way too sour and not pleasant at all but it is for sure a unique experience that should not be bypassed.)
During my walk around the city in search of comics murals, I stumbled on the world's largest court house. According to the panels, the decree for this courthouse was given by Leopold I in 1862 and started in 1866. It was inaugurated in 1883 by Leopold II.
The courthouse is so massive that I couldn't find a location far enough to capture the whole building! The fog that day didn't help either.
This little restaurant is in the oldest building in Brussels. It is so old that the French word for star has since changed from "estrille" to "etoile". It is located in the once aristocratic district of Sablon.
Created in 1890, the Small Sablon Park features a statue representing Count Egmont and Count Hoorn, who were both decapitated by the Spanish in an attempt to put down the Protestant faith and make the Catholic faith prevail.
The park is surrounded by 48 statues representing the 48 main careers at the time.
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Art Nouveau architecture has its roots in Brussels in the early 1890s. It main purpose was to reject the symmetry of architecture styles until that point and to focus instead on movement and light.
One of the first shopping centers, the Bortier Gallery was completed in 1848 by Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar.
With its cast iron work, its marble use and its massive windows, this building foreshadows the Art Nouveau period that follows.
On the hill of Monts des Arts, there is a large building with many mosaics. It used to be a British pharmacy. There were many British businessmen in Brussels at the end of the 19th century. Many of them liked the Art Nouveau style and had their buildings built in that style. This building features several mosaics, which becomes key in Art Nouveau architecture, as we will see.
While the mosaics are a new element, this building mostly follows the typical brick building style with the pointed roof of the Flanders region.
The Old England building is located further up on the same street. It is the best example of Art Nouveau at the center of Brussels. Built in the
Just above the first floor, there is a frieze that in essence describes the building. As this was a British department store, the crown motif represents the English monarchy. The shell with the horse above it symbolizes travelers (i.e. the British merchants in Belgium). Similarly, the rod surrounded by two snakes and topped with two wings symbolizes Mercury, the god of travelers and merchants.
Notice all of the movement in the iron work. The goal of the Art Nouveau movement was to break some of the symmetry, straight lines and rigor of all the architecture that came before.
The iron work from the outside is carried in. Notice the stylized lily on the balcony, the flowers around the elevator and the floral design in the frieze below the ceiling. Due to their asymmetry and curved lines, flowers are a common motif in Art Nouveau buildings.
Using uncovered iron beams gave Art Nouveau architects the possibility to create very open concept designs to let in the most amount of light possible.
On the Place Royale, the Hôtel des Brasseurs appears to be built in neo-classical style. Yet, when you take a closer look, the interior is actually in Art Nouveau style. At the time of construction, the building was occupied by a British life insurance company. The marble plaques in the entryway detail some of the products offered by the company. Notice the decorations on the plaque. Does it remind you of nature?
Taking a closer look, we notice all the flower motifs.
Inside, there is almost no straight line, showing the insistence of the Art Nouveau period on movement. Notice also the abundance of windows.
The floor takes the same colors to create a dynamic floor mosaic made out of various marbles.
Located in the Ixelles suburb of Brussels, Hotel Tassel is considered as one of the first buildings of true Art Nouveau. The movement in its purest form required not only iron work, light and movement but also certain other elements such as greenhouses in the middle of the building to bring the outdoor light and diffuse it indoors. Hotel Tassel, built in 1893 by Victor Horta, features all of these elements with the curved bay window made out of iron and the nature elements in the iron work and the stone pillars. While the facade may seem simple at first glance, doing all of the stonework is actually rather expensive. Today housing a lawyers cabinet, the Hotel Tassel is only visit-able about once a year in the spring.
The Hôtel Ciamberlani was built by Paul Hankar four years after Hôtel Tassel. While they are both from the same period and of the same architectural movement, notice the difference in the buildings. For one, Hankar tends to use brick or smaller stones as he catered primarily to the more budget-sensitive artist community (unlike Horta who catered primarily to the bourgeoisie). Nonetheless, Hankar focuses on the same principles of light, cast iron and movement.
The painting around the horseshoe windows and the frieze above the top level of windows is designed by the original homeowner: Albert Ciamberlani. The bottom painting represents the circle of life (from right to left) while the top represents various hunting scenes.
Paul Hankar built his own house in the more budget-friendly Art Nouveau style. As evident from the iron work on the balconies, Hankar did not mind playing with more geometric shapes that inherently were not smooth, curved lines. Hankar did keep the idea of nature in the green color of the iron work and the paintings behind it as well as the painting between the first and second story windows above the front door. He also incorporated nature in the semi-circle paintings below the roof that represent the different parts of the day: dawn, day, evening and night (from left to right).
Nature was further incorporated in the medallions on the balcony base showing a butterfly, a lizard and a crab.
While this is not an Art Nouveau building, the paintings--or more precisely sgraffites--are typical of the Art Nouveau movement. (The building is located on located on 71 rue Faider.)
Last but not least, the house/atelier of Victor Horta. Taking three years to build, the house was completed in 1901. The left side of the building served as Horta's home while the right served as his atelier and office. The iron work on this building subtly refers to nature, from the lily in the door to the butterflies in the balcony to the dragonfly wings on the upper terrace. Today, the building is a museum that you can visit in order to get a sense of the interior design that accompanies the Art Nouveau style.
Below are some of the comics murals in the southern part of Brussels. To take your own tour of the murals in Brussels, the Brussels tourism website has a good map of all of them.
Passe-moi le ciel (Oh! Sweet Heaven) (Stuff et Janry)
The massive court house, perched on the hill, is barely visible through the fog in the back.
Funny little monkey looking at the courthouse on the hill
A nice illusion of windows
Spirou (Yoann)
Le petit Jojo (Geerts)
La Patrouille des Castors (Mitacq)
Boule & Bill (Roba)
Léonard (Turk)
Blondin & cirage (Jijé)
While this mural is of a comic, I really enjoyed the carefree and fun vibe.
Translation: "Music before everything"
Benoît Brisefer (Peyo)
Quick & Flupke (Hergé)
The two main museums in the European Quarter–the Parlamentarium and the Museum of EUropean History–are absolute must-sees ! Don’t forget to bring a jacket though 😉
The Luxembourg Square was built in the late 1850s, after the Leopold Quarter Station was built. In 1989, almost the entire station was destroyed and rebuilt underground. Only the facade of the main entrance is intact today. It serves as the facade of the Parliament info point. The statue on the square is of John Cockerill, an influential industrialist in Belgium.
Behind the info point are the massive modern buildings that make up the various parts of the European Union organisations headquartered in Brussels. The Parlamentarium (which is free to visit) is located at the left-most point when looking at the info point from the square.
The first floor is all about the history of how the European Union came to be, outlining the details of the Schuman Declaration of 1950 and the Treaty of Paris of 1952 which set up the organisation of steel and coal production in Europe.
Next, the visitor is guided downstairs where they can explore the information cards of the various members of congress today.
Next, you can take part in a simulation where you are given the pros and cons of a specific action and you have to decide whether to vote for or against that specific action.
Sometimes, the results are very similar between what all of the museum goers voted for and what the actual members voted for.
What's interesting about this game is that it spells out that there are pros and cons to each action; there is not right answer.
It also shows that sometimes the citizens and the parliament members might not always share the same opinion.
A question I found particularly interesting. To see the way that the visitors and the parliament members voted, you will just have to visit the museum 😉
Another room that I found particularly interesting was the one with the map of Europe. In the next room, the map of Europe is projected on the floor with circles for some of the cities. Whenever one of the tables (on wheels) is moved over that city, a video begins explaining what European Union funds have done to help that city move forward.
The room right next door brings the discussion to a more personal level; it is a room where you can choose to hear the testimonial of various people from various countries in the European Union on what they have done with European funds and how that has changed their lives.
Behind the European Union complex is the Leopold park. This park once housed five institute, one of which was the Institute of Physiology. In 1927, it is on these steps that the Slovay conference takes a picture, that includes Marie Currie, Albert Einstein and other notable scientists. Today, it is a high school.
Another of the five institutes is the Institute of Hygiene, which turned into the George Eastman Dental Institute. Today, it houses the Museum of European History.
While George Eastmen had no background in dentistry, he founded several learning institutions on the subject both in his home country--the United States of America--as well as in Europe. In fact, Eastmen is the founder of Kodak and it said that he hated taking pictures of people with bad teeth so much that he tried to promote the practice of good oral hygiene.
A couple minutes away is the European Commission, which is the legislative branch of the European Union. This is where the laws are written to be later accepted by Parliament. The building that houses the European Commission in Brussels is very eco-friendly but took a lot more money to complete: 1.4 billion Euros.
The building with the wood and glass facade houses the Council of the European Union. All of the wood that makes up the facade of the building was gathered from across all of the European Union countries to show that they all make up the Council and are at the forefront of the decisions made.
After you explore the European Quarter, the Parc du Cinquantenaire is just next door and a perfect place for a nice picnic.
The name of the park signifies "Park of the Fiftieth Anniversary" and was thus intended to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Belgian independence. Yet, only the base of the arch was actually completed for the 50th anniversary. The building of the arch was delayed as the Belgian government did not want to spend the money to build it while Leopold II wanted to show off his wealth. In the end, it was completed for the 75th anniversary in 1905. The four-horse chariot on top represents the Brabant Province, the one that houses Brussels (today split in the French and Flemish side). The four sculptures at the base along with the other four in the back represent the other eight provinces of Belgium.
If you go in the opposite direction instead, towards the city center, you will encounter the statue of Leopold II at Troonplein 9.
King Leopold II is the second eldest son of King Leopold I and Princess Louise of Orleans. Neither of these two were Belgian but they were the first Belgian King and Queen. King Leopold was German royalty and was first married to Princess Charlotte, who was in line for the British throne. The idea behind this pair of ruling monarchs was that the Germans would not attack Belgium as it was ruled by one of their own and that the British would protect Belgium if it were attacked by any of its other neighbors. Princess Charlotte die however one year into the marriage and King Leopold was later remarried to Princess Louise of Orleans, from France, with the same strategy in mind. They had four children; the first one died in infancy leaving Leopold II as the King of Brussels.
Unfortunately, King Leopold II was a very selfish and dishonest king. One of the most infamous examples of this fact is his decision to take the Congo Free State for his personal gain in the guise of an enlightenment mission. He committed unspeakable atrocities in the country with the sole goal of making a fortune for himself. Under his rule, 50% of Congo's male population was lost. That's around 10 to 12 million dead, making him the creator of the third largest genocide, after Hitler and Stalin. Regrettably, he was the longest ruling monarch of Belgium.
Finally, if you are heading toward the Midi Train Station, you will likely pass next to a castle-like building. This is the Halle port, built in the 14th century as a gate in the city walls. Today, it houses the Museum of Brussels History.
Often overlooked, but enchanting city on the tourist trail in Europe. Thank you for capturing the essence of this vibrant, multifaceted city!