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Grand Place And Brussels Town Hall

One of World's Most Beautiful Squares

The Grand Place is a famous tourist attraction in Brussels, surrounded by the Brussels Town Hall, the King's House, and many historical buildings. It was once described as the most beautiful square in the world by French writer Victor Hugo and was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1998.

Located in the heart of the city, Brussels’ Grand Place (Grote Markt) is a famous tourist attraction. The Grand Place began as a marketplace in the 12th century and gradually developed into a meeting place for local guilds. The French writer Victor Hugo praised it as The Most Beautiful Square in the World, and in 1998 the Grand Place was inscribed on the World Heritage List.

Forty historic buildings are lined up around the square, the two most visible of which are the Brussels Town Hall and the King’s House. The Brussels Town Hall (French: Hôtel de Ville, Dutch: Stadhuis), built in 1420, has a 96-meter-high gothic tower topped by a statue of St. Michael the Archangel; opposite the City Hall is the King's House (French: Maison du Roi, Dutch: Broodhuis), which was originally owned by the Duke of Brabant and is now home to the Brussels City Museum.

The 96-meter-tall Gothic Tower of the City Hall

The rest of the buildings in the square are mostly baroque guild houses built in the 17th century, the better-known ones being Le Cygne (“The Swan”; Dutch: De Zwane). Karl Marx wrote the Manifesto of the Communist Party in the Le Cygne (the Swan House). The famous writer Victor Hugo also stayed in the Le Pigeon (The Dove House) during his stay in Brussels.

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Manywhere Trivia:
The Grand Place in Brussels hosts the Flower Carpet, a biennial event, using millions of pots of flowers to spell out different thematic patterns on the ground, on a weekend of August.

Leaving the Grand Place in the south alley of the city hall, via Monument to Everard t'Serclaes and the street of stores selling chocolates and waffles, you will soon come across Brussels’ most famous citizen, Manneken Pis, the Peeing Boy.

Manneken Pis

Brussels' Oldest and Best Known Citizen

The Manneken Pis is known as the oldest citizen of Brussels because, according to legend, he doused the fuse that was about to detonate an explosive by peeing. The statue of the peeing boy is located on the corner south of the Grand Place in Brussels, and on celebrations and special days, the boy is dressed in a specially tailored costume.

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