Brussels’ famous Grand-Place, designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1998, needs no introduction . The central square of the Belgian capital, its many details continue to fascinate visitors and even the most seasoned Brussels residents. Home to the Town Hall and the former King’s House – now the Musée de la Ville de Bruxelles – the Grand-Place continues to hold many fascinating and intriguing secrets. Here are just a few of them.
History has left its mark on the Grand-Place
And with good reason! The square has been threatened and pillaged time and time again… First bombed during the League of Augsburg war in 1695, then greatly altered during the French Revolution. The Grand-Place was the scene of equally tragic events: martyrs and counts against the current regimes were burned or beheaded…
Its houses bear funny names
La Louve, le Renard, la Brouette, l’Arbre d’Or, le Moulin à Vent… guild houses – that is to say, houses housing former social organizations, often merchants – abound in the Grand-Place and its streets with equally eccentric names: rue au Beurre, rue des Chapeliers, rue des Harengs… Among others, the Brewers’ guild house now houses the Brewers’ Museum.
Grote Markt in Dutch
And Gruute Met in Brussels! Meaning “big market”. But why? For its role as a market place that has transcended the ages, more precisely until November 19, 1959, when the morning markets came to an end. The Grand-Place, with its long history of trade – the first markets are recorded as far back as 1174! – has always been a meeting place for the people of Brussels in their daily lives.
Jacques Firmin Lanvin settled here
It was under this false name that writer Victor Hugo landed in Brussels in December 1851, after leaving Paris and denouncing Napoleon III, whom he detested to the utmost. “The Hôtel de Ville de Bruxelles is a jewel, a dazzling poet’s fantasy from the mind of an architect. And the square surrounding it is a marvel”, he said. He left Brussels and returned in 1861 to publish “Les Misérables”.
A collection of flowers and poetry
A number of Latin poems adorn the facades of the houses on the Grand-Place: all the work of the poet Petrus van der Borcht, who died in the mid-18th century. Even more poetic: in August, the Grand-Place is dressed in a huge carpet of flowers. How romantic!