The Most Magnificent Buildings in Brussels

 

THE most beautiful historic place in Brussels is the Grand Place.  And the word Grand is an understatement for these magnificent guild-buildings.  The Grand Place or Groote Markt is the central square of the City of Brussels.  All over the world, it is known for its decorative and aesthetic wealth. 
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It is surrounded by opulent baroque guildhalls of the former Guilds of Brussels and two larger edifices: the city's flamboyant Town Hall, and the neo-gothic King's House or Bread House building, containing the Brussels City Museum. 

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Fascinating Facades: 

The gold, the colors, and the figures glow in the light of the rising and later the setting sun. The figures on top of the buildings and the gables display the symbols of the buildings´ former owners.

• The globe and the compass were installed by the carpenters' and cooper's guild. 
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
• On the house of the river boatmen, the gable was shaped into a galleon, with fish-shaped sea gods below. 
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
• Not every guild can be identified from the symbolism of the roofs.  For example, the bakers decorated their house with a following fama, the embodiment of gossip, presumably they were particularly fond of gossip. 
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
• The butchers, on the other hand, dedicated their gable to “Le Cygne”, even though swan meat is not exactly considered a profitable delicacy. Six guilds shared the “Maison des Ducs de Brabant”. 
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
• La brouette or the wheelbarrow is the name of the fat makers' house, one of the very few buildings on the Grand Place that survived the devastation of Louis 14th's troops in 1695 more or less unscathed.

The remaining guild houses all had to be rebuilt.  The fire of the French troops had reduced the old wooden houses to rubble along with 4,000 other buildings.  But the guilds were rich and quick builders.  By 1700, just five years later, the new stone houses had already been completed in Italian baroque style, combined with a few decorative elements from the Flemish late Gothic period. 

Today, banks, travel agencies, and airlines have rented the coveted office space.  Only the brewers' guild house is still used by the old guild.  The Grand Place has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Every second year millions of flowers are arranged to build a wonderful flower carpet that covers the whole place.

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