- Page 1 - Grand Place Walking Tour Brussels is the capital of Belgium and also a top tourist destination in Europe. The city's main square is the Grand Place. The square is famous for its Baroque style buildings, such as the Town Hall, the King's House and other guildhalls, all of which make the Grand Place a busy tourist hotspot. Take this one-hour tour to visit the most popular tourist attractions situated in and around the Grand Place. Guide Location: Belgium» Brussels # of Attractions: 11 Tour Duration: 1 hour(s) Travel Distance: 0.3 km Please note: This walk is also featured in the mobile app "GPSmyCity: Walks in 1K+ Cities" downloadable on itunes App Store and Google Play. The app provides turn-by-turn GPS navigation to guide you from one tour sight to the next, so you will never be lost. The apps offer additional walking tours in Brussels. Check them out! GPSmyCity offers self-guided walking tours in over 1,000 city around the world. Please visit https://www.gpsmycity.com for more walking tour offers. List of attractions included in this self-guided walking tour: A) Grand Place B) Maison du Roi (King's House) C) Pigeon D) House of the Dukes of Brabant E) Arbre d'or F) Cygne G) Etoile H) Town Hall I) Renard and Cornet J) Louve, Sac and Brouette K) Roi d'espagne - Page 1 -
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- Page 5 - A) Grand Place (must see) Grand Place is one of the most beautiful squares in Europe. Its fascinating 17th century architecture never ceases to amaze everyone. Among architectural masterpieces there are many stores selling authentic Belgian beer, delicious chocolate, lace and souvenirs. The square is the most important tourist destination and most memorable landmark in Brussels. Every two years in August, an enormous "flower carpet" is set up in the Grand Place for a few days. A million colorful begonias are set up in patterns, and the display covers a full 24 by 77 meters, for area total of 1,800 square meters. The first flower carpet was made in 1971, and due to its popularity, the tradition continued, with the flower carpet attracting a large number of tourists. Address: Grand Place, Brussels, 1000, Belgium Image Courtesy of Flickr and Rich B-S. Sight description based on Wikipedia. B) Maison du Roi (King's House) (must see) The King s House, also known as Maison du Roi, is designed in a Neo-Gothic style incorporating many decorative statues. The Dutch name for the building is Broodhuis, which translates to bread house. This gives a clue to the early origins of the building. In the beginning of the 13th century a wooden structure stood on this location and was used by bakers to sell their products. In the early 1400s a stone structure was constructed to replace the original wooden building. In the 1500s bakers favored selling their bread door-to-door and the need for a bread selling house slowly diminished. Instead of letting the building sit empty, it began to be used as a government administrative building. Over the next couple of hundred years the building declined to the point that it had to be rebuilt. In 1860 the city purchased the building and initiated a complete tear down/restoration. The neo-gothic architecture of the King s House was inspired by the Oudenaard City town hall. Today the building houses the City Museum of Brussels. The museum portrays the history of the City and features pieces of Brussels heritage including original statues of the town hall, wall tapestries, earthenware, silverware, paintings and other artifacts that speak volumes about the past of the Belgian capital. Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Donaldytong. Sight description based on Wikipedia. - Page 5 -
- Page 6 - C) Pigeon Pigeon is one of the most popular buildings of the Grand Place square. The Pigeon is famous because Victor Hugo spent part of his exile from France here. The Pigeon building originally housed the painters' guild. Image Courtesy of Flickr and scalleja. Sight description based on Wikipedia. D) House of the Dukes of Brabant (must see) The House of the Dukes of Brabant is an elegant building situated between the Town Hall and the King's House. The house features 7 departments, each of them having a name. The edifice is called the House of the Dukes of Brabant due to the statues of the dukes, which are on the first floor, under the windows. Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Viktorhauk. Sight description based on Wikipedia. E) Arbre d'or (must see) Arbre d'or is the only building on the Grand Place square which is still owned by a guild, the brewers'. The building features an equestrian statue of Charles of Lorraine on its top. Arbre d'or houses a small Musée de la Brasserie on the ground floor. Image Courtesy of Flickr and David Spender. Sight description based on Wikipedia. - Page 6 -
- Page 7 - F) Cygne The Cygne building is called so, due to the swan on its facade. Cygne is famous for the bar where Karl Marx met up with Engels when the former was exiled in Belgium. Today the building is home to one of Brussels' most exclusive restaurants. Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Jloriaux. Sight description based on Wikipedia. G) Etoile Etoile is one of the oldest and the smallest buildings on the Grand Place square. Mentioned in the 13th century as the residence of the local chief justice, Etoile has been rebuilt several times. Today the building has a number of impressive bas-reliefs on it and a plaque which commemorates Everard Sercles, a famous son of Brussels. Image Courtesy of Flickr and stevecadman. Sight description based on Wikipedia. H) Town Hall (must see) Located on the Grand Place, the Town Hall is a lovely example of Gothic architecture. Gothic architecture typically has a vertical emphasis and often features pointed arches, ribbed vaults and flying buttresses as the key features. The oldest part of the Town Hall is the east wing, and was constructed over an 18-year (1402 to 1420) period under the guidance of Jacob van Thienen. Subsequent wings were added in 1444 and 1452. The dominant feature of the building is the 310-foot (96-meter) tall tower feature, the spire of which is topped by the archangel Saint Michael. Upon careful inspection, you may notice the tower, the front archway, and the façade of the main building are off-center relative to one another. Legend has it that when the architect discovered the error he was so distraught that he climbed the tower and leapt to his death. The building façade includes many statues of nobles, saints and allegorical figures. The sculptures you see today are actually reproductions. The older ones are - Page 7 -
- Page 8 - now housed in the city museum. The Town Hall was completely gutted by fire as the result of a 1695 bombardment of Brussels by the French. The fire destroyed the archives and art collection. The halls have since been refilled with tapestries, paintings and sculptures depicting key local and regional historical figures. Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Alina Zienowicz. Sight description based on Wikipedia. I) Renard and Cornet (must see) Le Renard and Le Cornet are two buildings that are part of a larger complex of guild houses occupying the northwest area of the Grand Place and opposite the King s House. During the Middle Ages and later, many cities in Belgium had guilds which had a stake in the city administration. The guilds were very wealthy and had a lot of political power, thus their wealth position was often reflected in their ornate and impressive buildings. Their adjacency to the Town Hall is not surprising, given that they would regularly meet with town officials. The Guild buildings served as a meeting place for the artisans where they would discuss new rules or regulations that were specific to their trade. Le Renard, which translates to the fox, was built in 1690 and served as the guild house of shirt makers. The facade of Le Renard is rich in ornamentation and statues, including one of Saint Nicholas. Le Cornet, which translates to the horn, was the former boatmen s guild and features a Flemish Italian style. Some say the facade of Le Cornet looks like a type of frigate or warship. Nearby guild houses include La Brouette, Le Sac, and Le Pot d Etain which accommodated fat makers, cabinet makers, and carpenters, respectively. Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Dave Pape. Sight description based on Wikipedia. J) Louve, Sac and Brouette (must see) The Louve, the Sac and the Brouette are an ensemble of houses on Grand Place square, which were not rebuilt in 1695, when the rest of the Grand Place buildings were renovated. Due to the preserved facades, the buildings are considered the most beautiful edifices of the Grand Place. - Page 8 -
- Page 9 - Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Ben2. Sight description based on Wikipedia. K) Roi d'espagne (must see) The Roi d Espange (or King of Spain) building was constructed in 1697 and served as the original house of the baker s guild. The building was designed by Jan Cosyns and is boxy in style with a domed lantern feature on the top. The building s name is drawn from the bust of Charles II which is incorporated into the second-floor building facade. The bust of Charles II was included in the facade because he was the sovereign of Southern Netherlands, which included present-day Belgium, when the building was complete. Charles II was also the King of Spain. Some of the notable features of the Roi d Espagne include the statues on the roof and dome. On the top of the dome is a gilded weather vane statue of Fame blowing a horn. The six statues on the roof each represent one of the six items needed to make bread. From left to right, when facing the building, they are strength, wheat, wind, fire, water and foresight. Above the door is a gilded bronze bust representing Saint Aubert, the patron saint of bakers. One of the most popular cafes on the square, Roy d Espagne, occupies a portion of the building. Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and EmDee. Sight description based on Wikipedia. - Page 9 -