The main square of Brussels is La Grande Place. Grand Place in Brussels
The Grand Place has been the heart of Brussels since the Middle Ages. Victor Hugo, the famous French writer of the last century, who lived in Brussels for some time, called the Grand Place the most beautiful of the main squares in Europe, and for good reason)
Grand Place(in Flemish Grote Markt), or the Great Market, is a historical square in the center of Brussels, one of the most important tourist sites in the city. Two of the most important sights are located here - the Brussels City Hall and the Bread House or the King's House.
Market Square arose in the XII century on the site of dried marshes. At the very beginning, it was only the market place of old Brussels, one of the villages on the ancient shepherd's road, along which the herds were driven. The village grew and grew rich thanks to trade. The development of the Grand Place began in 1402 with the building of the town hall Hotel de Ville, which occupies most of its side of the square and was mostly completed in 1480. The original town hall tower, 91 meters high, was built from 1449 to 1455. Its spire is crowned with a weather vane in the form of a five-meter copper figure of the Archangel Michael trampling on the devil. On the facade of the building there are more than a hundred statues, these are copies of ancient originals made in the last century. The interiors are richly decorated with Brussels wall hangings and paintings. Two fountains in the courtyard symbolize the two main rivers of Belgium - the Scheldt and the Meuse.
Brussels City Hall day and night
On the opposite side of the square, the Bread House was built in the 13th century, which, as the name suggests, was used to store bread. Later this building became known as the King's House. Interestingly, the Dutch language still uses the older name (bread house), while in French this building is called the "king's house". In the years 1873-1895 it was renovated in all the splendor of the architectural style of the XVI century, and now it houses the City Museum. In one of its most interesting halls, a collection of costumes is presented, numbering more than 350 exhibits.
On August 13, 1695, the shelling of Brussels by the French army began, which lasted several days. As a result, the entire city center was destroyed. On the Grand Place only the town hall survived, and, in part, the Bread House.
However, after the end of the war, the area was quickly (in just four years) rebuilt by wealthy guilds. As a result, the area took on a look very close to the present. 33 guild buildings built in the 17th century, either pseudo-Gothic or Baroque, complete the rectangle of the square.
Every day in the morning, a flower market opens on the square, and on Sundays - a bird market. Once upon a time in the old days, the Burgundian nobility arranged jousting tournaments here.
Not far from the Grand Place is the famous "Manniken Pis", or "Manneken Pis", - "the oldest citizen of the capital" and "the impudent emblem of Brussels". The first copy, which has not survived, dates from the 14th century. Oddly enough, this monument is the most famous monument in the country and today has 517 textile suits for ceremonies and has been awarded many orders.
Brussels Ensemble Grand Place listed world heritage UNESCO.
Brussels has many attractions that will keep you and your family entertained during your holiday in this beautiful city. These attractions are best visited during the day, and exotic and trendy restaurants and bars are at your disposal in the evening. Also you can use sightseeing buses"Hop on Hop off", which will conveniently deliver to your destination and allow you to enjoy the sights of the city at any time within 24 hours from the moment of first use.
Grand Place
Grand Place - the central square of Brussels and the first thing tourists usually visit in the city. Her name in French grand place and in Dutch Grote Markt. Small but graceful Town Square The 15th century has passed through the centuries to become a modern embodiment of the history of Brussels, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. All buildings on the square have historical value, and the town hall Hotel de Ville is still open today! The square is located in the heart of Brussels, close to Brussels Centrale train station.
Metro: Bourse/Beurs, Gare Centrale/Cenraal
Manneken Pis
Just a few short and narrow streets from the Grand Place is the famous statue of a pissing boy or "Mannekin Pis" What is this work of art called? locals. Manneken Pis not only attracts thousands of curious tourists to Brussels every year: the people of Brussels themselves hold many festivities at this bronze fountain. At last count, this little boy has already acquired more than 700 costumes from many countries around the world for all events throughout the year.
Address: Intersection of Rue de l "Etuve / Stoofstraat and Rue du Chene / Eikstraat
Metro: Bourse/Beurs, Gare Centrale/Cenraal, Anneessens
Palace of Justice
Palace of Justice – majestic building, towering over the entire city, from the windows of which a stunning view of Brussels in the evening opens. The building still performs its main functions and serves as the seat of the Supreme Court of Belgium. The palace is crowned with a majestic gilded dome, and its facade overlooking the square is decorated with numerous columns.
Address: Poelaertplein 1
Metro: Louise/Louiza
Atomium
Mini Europe
Mini Europe is a theme park, where you can admire small copies of the most famous monuments, sights and landscapes of Europe. Mini-Europe Park is located in Brupark at the foot of the Atomium. Families with children can look forward to an unforgettable day in this beautiful and educational park. The miniatures presented here are 25 times smaller than the originals. Among the most famous exhibits, it is worth highlighting the Eiffel Tower, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Mount Vesuvius and, of course, the Grand Place!
Address: Bruparck
Metro: Heysel/Heizel
Website: http://www.minieurope.eu
European Quarter
The European Union has firmly established itself in Brussels. The constant activity of the EU in the city has caused the growth European Quarter in the eastern part of the city, located between the metro stations Arts-Loi, Trone, Maalbeek and Schuman. In this rectangle, street after street are houses made of glass and concrete, in which various structures of the European Union and other international organizations work, including the headquarters of NATO. Many countries have also opened their embassies here, taking advantage of the proximity of EU institutions.
Metro: Arts-Loi/Kunst-wet, Trone/Troon, Maalbeek, Schuman
Place Grande Sablon
This wonderful architectural ensemble consists of buildings of the XVI-XIX centuries. Today on Grand Sablon square located mainly elite antique shops, restaurants and chocolate shops. On the Grand Sablon you can have a nice dinner or just take a walk surrounded by an indescribable atmosphere of antiquity. Every weekend, the square enlivens with its red and green tents an antique market that attracts crowds of curious onlookers.
Address: Place du Grand Sablon
Metro: Louise/Louiza, Porte de Namur/Naamseport
50th Anniversary Park
Parc du Cinquantenaire or Jubelpark- not just a park, but a real national landmark. In translation, the name of the park means "Fiftieth Anniversary Park". The park was created under Leopold II in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of Belgian independence.
The fiftieth anniversary park is symbolically shaped like a pentagon, like the inner and outer ring of the city. The park is located right outside the inner ring, not far from the European Quarter. In the southeastern part of the park, behind the fountain that marks the entrance to the park, there is a huge arch.
The two wings of the arch are the location of three museums. In the left wing is the Autoworld Automobile Museum, showing the evolution of the automobile from its very invention to the present day. In the right wing there are art and military museums. Visitors can climb for free to the top of the arch, which offers a good view of Brussels and the European Quarter.
The park hosts a wide variety of events: concerts, parties, festivals, aperitifs, film screenings. There is even a starting line for the Brussels Marathon.
You can get to the 50th Anniversary Park from the Merode metro station, or reverse side park from Schuman metro.
Metro: Merode, Schuman
Something about writing my trip report hit a dead end. I would like to write about Brussels in more detail, but somehow all the sights are not grouped, and the story about them does not line up in a logical sequence ...
I came to the conclusion: those sights about which I found a lot of information, I will put them in separate posts, and I will write about the rest in the final part of Brussels.
So, today the most beautiful square in the world, according to Victor Hugo, and not only him, is Grand Place (Grand Place - French or Grote Markt - Dutch "big market"):
Grand Place - the central square of Brussels, about 110 m long and 68 m wide. The market square arose in the 11th century on the site of dried marshes. In the early Middle Ages, small wooden houses were scattered throughout the area, but starting from the 14th century, they were replaced by stone buildings. Gradually, the market turns into the main commercial and administrative center of the city.
Due to the growing importance of the city, the city's city authorities decide to demolish some of the wooden houses and build a new town hall in their place, which would meet the city's need for a large administrative center. Thus, in 1402, the construction of the town hall building began, which to this day is the dominant feature of the square. The left longer wing of the building was built in 1402-1422 by the architect Jacob Van Tienen to expand the existing tower. Later, a decision was made on a new expansion of the town hall. So in 1444-1448, an unknown architect completed the right wing, shorter than the first. This was due to the fact that the surroundings of the square had formed by that time and neighboring buildings did not allow to make the right side symmetrical to the left. In 1449-1455 on the spot old tower a new 96-meter building was erected according to the project of the architect Jan van Ruysbroek. The tower is crowned with a gilded statue of Archangel Michael killing the devil, the patron saint of Brussels.
Looking at the town hall, one cannot help but notice the asymmetry, which I have already written about above. Therefore, there was even a legend in Brussels that the architect committed suicide by throwing himself from the tower when he noticed that the tower was not in the middle.
Opposite the tower stands the building of the Bread House (or the House of the King) in neo-Gothic style.
The presence of two such different names for one building was determined by history. In the 13th century, there was a wooden building on this site, which was used by bakers as a place to sell bread. Hence the Nideladian "Broodhuis" - a bread house. At the beginning of the 15th century, the building became less used by bakers, but more and more used for the administrative purposes of the Duke of Brabant, hence the French name "Maison Du Roi" - the king's house. During the reign of Emperor Charles V, a stone building in the Gothic style was built (1515-1536). In subsequent years, the building housed the royal court and even a prison. It was here that the Counts of Egmont and de Horne spent their last night before their execution at the Grand Place on June 5, 1568. After shelling in 1695 by the French army, the Bread House was partially destroyed. In 1868, by order of the mayor Jules Anspach, the city authorities bought this house, which by that time was in a deplorable state. The entire building was rebuilt from scratch in the Neo-Gothic style, designed by the architect Viktor Yamar (1873). Bread House June 2, 1887 became a museum of the city of Brussels.
However, the glory and beauty of the Grand Place is created not only by the town hall and the King's House, but, and perhaps, above all, by the amazing beauty of the Guild House. And although all the houses located on the square are commonly called "guild houses", some of them never belonged to the guilds of artisans, but were privately owned.
In the Middle Ages and later in every city there were many guilds - associations of artisans. The wealthy and politically powerful guilds sought to show their importance in the decoration of their homes, where they met regularly to discuss new rules and regulations for trading their wares. In Brussels, the guilds, of course, built their representative houses around the Grand Place. After the almost complete destruction in August 1695, the city authorities ordered the guilds to submit plans for the restoration of houses for final approval. Thus, the stylistic unity of the square was preserved.
In the Middle Ages, houses were not numbered, but had names. The names of the houses were indicated by some small statue or part of the decoration of the facade. Of course, after so many centuries, it is not always possible to find the detail that gave the house its name.
I tried to find out the names of all the houses and the names of the guilds to which they belonged. In general, this is not an easy task, but an interesting one ...
Houses to the left of the town hall (numbered from right to left)
No. 1 "King of Spain". The house belonged to the guild of bakers. Above the door is a bust of Saint Aubert, the patron saint of bakers, and even higher, a bust of Charles II, King of Spain.
No. 2-3 "Trolley". The house belonged to the guild of fat and oil producers, and later tallow candle merchants, and is decorated with a statue of Saint Gilles, patron of this guild.
No. 4 "Bag". The house belonged to the guild of coopers and cabinetmakers.
No. 5 "Wolf". The house belonged to the guild of archers. The façade is crowned with a figure of a phoenix reborn from ashes and flames, which has become a symbol of the city's rebuilding after being bombarded by French troops in 1695. The house is decorated with a relief depicting Romulus and Remus fed by a she-wolf, hence the name.
No. 6. "Cornet" (or "Horn"). The house belonged to the boatmen's guild, so the pediment of the house is made in the form of a ship's stern.
No. 7. "A fox". The house belonged to the haberdashers' guild. The reliefs above the second floor depict allegories of the four continents. Previously, the house was crowned with a statue of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of the guild.
Houses located to the right of the town hall (numbered from right to left)
No. 8 "Star". Amman house. In 1852, the house was demolished, and in 1897, on the initiative of Mayor Charles Bulls, it was restored, although the first floor was replaced by an arcade. Behind the arcade is a plaque paying tribute to Charles Buls for his services to the preservation of the historical appearance of the Grand Place, as well as to the architects of the Grand Place.
And this is a monument to the mayor of Brussels Charles Bulls, not far from the Grand Place
Next to the board is a monument to Everard "t Serclaes - the medieval hero of Brussels.
No. 9. "Swan". The house belonged to the guild of butchers. In the 19th century, this house was a cafe where Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels used to visit.
No. 10 "Golden Tree". The house belonged to the guild of brewers. The facade is completed by an equestrian statue of Charles of Lorraine.
No. 11 "Rose". Private house.
No. 12 "Mount Tabor". Private house.
House numbering from right to left
No. 12a "King of Bavaria" - a private house.
No. 13-18 "House of the Dukes of Brabant". In fact, behind one monumental facade designed by Guillaume de Bruyna, there are 6 separate houses. The facade is decorated with 19 busts of the Dukes of Brabant, who gave the house its name.
No. 13 "Glory". Private house.
No. 14 "Hermitage". The house belonged to the guild of tapestries and furniture upholsterers.
No. 15 "Luck". The home of the tanners' guild.
No. 16 " Windmill". House of the Millers' Guild.
No. 17 "Tin Pot". Home of the Guild of Carpenters and Carriage Makers.
No. 18 "Hill". House of the Guild of Sculptors and Stonemasons. Or otherwise, the “House of the Four Crowned Guilds”: sculptors, masons, roofers and stonemasons.
No. 19 "Purse". Private house.
To the right of the Khlebny Dom (numbered from right to left)
No. 20 "Deer". Private house.
No. 21-22 "Joseph and Anna". Two private houses united by a common facade.
No. 23 "Angel". Private house.
No. 24-25 "Golden boat". House of the guild of tailors. Above the entrance is a bust of St. Barbara.
No. 26-27 "Dove". House of the Guild of Artists. During his stay in Brussels, Victor Hugo lived in this house.
No. 28 "Rooms of Amman". Private house.
To the left of the Bread House (numbering from right to left)
No. 34 "Helmet". Private house.
No. 35 "Peacock". Private house.
No. 36 "Oak". Private house.
No. 37 "Fox". Private house.
No. 38 "Saint Barbara". Private house.
No. 39 "Donkey". Private house.
Still, it is interesting to study history by the names of houses, to find out which guilds existed in medieval Brussels ...
To be continued...
All night long music rattled under the window, crackers exploded, bottles were broken and a chorus of drunken voices sang out of tune the songs of European hit parades. When the decibels subsided, the festivities not only did not calm down, but continued with a vengeance. Alternately, Berber mournful motives, then the rhythms of the black stage were heard. The Moroccan Chaobi was replaced by reference recitatives, the Algerian gauals performed the author's songs a cappella, after which the mournful cry of the Ethiopian mushos was heard, growing into the two-voiced Congolesian khamins. Against the background of all musical impromptu, there were cries for help from citizens who were being robbed, someone was raped, someone was declared in love. Sometimes the disturbing sounds of a police siren were added to all this cacophony. The rattle of breaking glass was heard like a sonorous beads, muffled blows were heard, accompanied by cranial and brain consequences incompatible with life. I lay in bed and, looking at the ceiling of my room, continued to doubt the correct assessment of the pros and cons of being close to the amusement park. It began to get light, the street evil spirits began to hide in secluded corners, as if in Gogolevsky Viy. A lone shot rang out in the distance, and at last everything was quiet.
Following this, I fell asleep in complete ahue. The awakening was not easy, but true to army discipline, I got out of bed and, whistling the USSR anthem, performed several physical exercises in order to quickly recover. It was necessary to sweep the car from fragments and insert new glass. It was half past ten in the morning, the street sparkled with crystal clearness - it is not clear when the municipal services managed to remove the garbage and take out the corpses (there must be at least a dozen of them, judging by the sounds that I enjoyed before the first roosters). With brisk steps, with a broom under my arm, I approached the car and whistled in surprise. Unlucky gopniks robbed my car again, breaking the front passenger glass. I laughed until I dropped (I was allowed to have fun by the legal effect of insurance conditions in the European Union), you have to be such cretins to rob an already robbed car, being too lazy to just bypass it or at least pull the handles that were not locked. I did not clean up the car, because the unintelligent Arabes could search for profit more than once. Having lowered the surviving windows and slightly opened the doors, I went to see the sights, cursing at what the world costs the whole of North and Equatorial Africa, a faithful navigator walked in step with me. We were heading to the famous Grand Place.
It will not be difficult to find it - take the metro to the station - Bours and from the opposite side - Gare Centrale, go out into the light of day, and even better, follow our example - go on foot. The Grand Place (alternatively also in Flemish Grote Markt) is an enchantingly beautiful, breathtakingly magnificent and hellishly bewitching place, concentrating hundreds of sights in one place.
But this statement will be indisputable on one condition - you need to be observant by nature and be able to renounce the world to carefully contemplate the various filigree elements of royal decor.
The history of this amazing square, of course, is covered with all sorts of fables. They say that the king of France was regularly brainwashed about the phenomenal beauties of Brussels, somehow hinting that Paris ... well, you understand ... The king was angry, drank bitter and poked the head architect with his muzzle at the urban development plan, but this did not help. The only effect of educational procedures was that the architect, seeing the king, immediately peed in his pants. Then the king arrived in the capital of Belgium, and seeing that people were not lying, he ordered to destroy it - the French artillerymen shot the city from cannons for several days. Stsuko, why not Hitler?
But that's not the end of the story; the inhabitants of Brussels were stubborn and restored the city, creating an even more beautiful square in it, clearly planning every detail. Thus, the Grand Place is the only medieval square in all of Europe, during the construction of which the entire architectural ensemble was carefully planned.
The development of the Grand Place began in 1402 with the building of the town hall Hotel de Ville, which occupies most of its side of the square and was mostly completed in 1480. The ninety-meter tower of the town hall was built from 1449 to 1455.
Its spire is crowned with a weather vane in the form of a five-meter copper figure of the Archangel Michael hanging a cradle to the devil. On the facade of the building there are more than a hundred statues, these are copies of old originals made in the century before last.
On the opposite side of the square, the Bread House was built in the 13th century, which, as the name suggests, was used to store bread. Later this building became known as the King's House.
The walls of this three-story building are cut through with numerous windows. The facade is decorated with arcades, and on each subsequent floor, the size of the arches decreases, and the decorative elements become more complicated. The design of the King's House contains numerous openwork ornaments, twisted spirals, turrets and spiers.
During the shelling of Brussels by the French ghouls, he suffered the most, but then was restored and became the residence of the Dukes of Brabant. The name "House of the Dukes" gradually transformed into the name "King's House", although no monarch has ever lived in this house. The building now houses the City Museum of Brussels.
Perpendicular to the aforementioned buildings are houses where artisans and merchants worked, belonging to various professional guilds: the house of the house painter, the house of the tailor, the house of the butcher, and of course the house of the Coca-Kolshchik and iPhone masters, if I don’t confuse anything.
In the Middle Ages, the knights from Burgundy held tournaments here. Yes, yes, the Duchy of Burgundy separated from France in 1363. From the south it bordered on Savoy, in the southwest on Auvergne. Already under Philip II, Burgundy swallowed up Flanders and the Netherlands. Western limit Champagne remained in Burgundy, and Dijon was the capital of Burgundy. Remember what D'Artagnan sang on his way to Paris:
Burgundy, Normandy, Champagne or Provence,
And there's fire in your veins too
But good fortune, by God, is not up to you,
Not yet in the world, while in the world there is Gascony.
AT modern time the fashion to beat each other with swords, alas, has passed. Therefore, people sit on benches, drink different drinks and get high.
The whole area is an amazing combination of colors - gothic buildings and baroque houses decorated with gold decor, red-green umbrellas of street cafes
and lots of flowers.
For the past fifty years, it has become a tradition to carpet the Grand Place with begonias. About 700,000 begonias, grown near Ghent, are laid out in the form of a rectangle 77x24 meters and decorate main square capital during three days. The flower show happens twice a year. Unfortunately, we did not become eyewitnesses of this event, but in order to give the reader an opportunity to feel the scale of the holiday, I propose to study the photograph that I copied and pasted (copied?).
Grand Place is one of the main avenues of the Belgian capital, located in the heart of the metropolis and proud of its unique sights. From this famous place it is worth starting excursions around the city, because according to legend, it was this site that laid the foundation for the emergence and development. In addition, it is not only the current, but also the historical center of the capital.
Grand Place in Brussels: the history of creation
The history of the famous old square began in the 12th century, when numerous swamps were dried up on its future territory. Over the next few centuries, the infrastructure of the structure was built:
— In XIII, the famous Bread House appeared or, as it is also called the "King's House"
— In the 15th century, the left side of the City Hall was built.
The end of the 17th century was disastrous for the Grand Place, since during the attack of the French from the well-groomed modern site there were solid ruins, only the Town Hall managed to survive almost in its original form, which lost only the sculptures on the facade and the monument of St. Michael on top of the tower.
After the end of hostilities, the area was quickly reconstructed thanks to the participation of wealthy guilds. Most of the buildings were reminiscent of the style of Louis XIV, and were also carried out in architectural style baroque. The appearance of the square of those times is predominantly preserved to this day.
In 1998, the architectural ensemble central square was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Modern Grand Place in Brussels is a unique architectural monument, which is very popular among tourists and residents of the capital. It impresses with its unusual architecture, as well as historical buildings erected during the Middle Ages located on its expanses:
1) The Brussels City Hall is the most beautiful building in the capital, built in the 15th century and intended for the work of the city administration. Over time, the administration of the capital was moved to another building, but the mayor of the metropolis continues to work in a historical building. Despite the fact that the head of the city continues to sit in the town hall, you can appreciate the luxury of its interiors during group tours which are held for just a few hours, two days a week.
The interior of the building resembles the royal chambers, because expensive materials, gilded decor elements, and chic tapestries were used in its modeling. No less amazing can be considered the facade of the building, which has an asymmetric shape and is decorated with numerous statues of rulers and sculptures of saints.
2) The Bread House (or the House of the King) is an old building, which, despite its second name, has not been used for a single day for the work of monarchs. It is often called the champion among buildings that have repeatedly changed their appearance and purpose. So, in the history of construction, its following functions are known:
– in the XIII century the building was used as a warehouse for bakery products
- a few years later it was converted into a place for the detention of criminals
- then it was bought by the Duke of Brabant and played the role of his personal tax office, and then became the family estate of the ruler.
- after the conquest of Brussels by the French, the House of the Duke began to be called the House of the People, which, due to the granting of royal privileges to foreign governors, was renamed the House of the King.
Nowadays in historical building there is a city museum, the exposition of which is the work of Belgian craftsmen who worked in various historical eras. Among the exhibits of the cultural institution, you can find stunning tapestries, interesting paintings, and even modern reconstructions. historical center cities.
In addition, on the Grand Place for about 30 years in a row, from August 15, for several days, you can watch the parade of flowers that cover the avenue like a fluffy multi-colored carpet.
Grand Place: how to get there?
The Grand Place is located in the very center of the Belgian capital, so you can get to it by several modes of transport:
– trams
Routes No. 3, 4, 31, 32 follow to the main avenue of the city, which stop at the Bourse stop.
— by buses going to the Parlement Bruxellois stop (No. 48 and 95)
Also not far from the Great Square is the metro station De Brouckere.
