Quick Facts about Belgium

Belgium became an independent state in

1830 after protests against the policies of
King William of the Netherlands. Since
then, Belgium has created its own
Constitution and proclaimed its own
sovereign King Leopold of Saxe-Coburg
was the first king of the Kingdom of
Belgium.
An interesting fact is that Belgium is
separated into 3 regions mainly due to
differences in language French and Dutch
speakers. The regions are Flanders in the
north (Dutch), Wallonia in the south
(French) and Brussels in the centre
(Bilingual). There is a small area called
Ardennes that also speaks German but it is
not an official region.
Conventional name: Kingdom of Belgium
Local name: Belgique (French) / Belgie
(Dutch)
Capital
city:
Brussels
Population: 10.5 million (UN, 2008)
Area: 30,528 sq km (11,787 sq miles)
Location: Western Europe, bordered
between the Netherlands, Germany, France
and
the
North
Sea
Time zone: GMT +1 (daylight savings time
from end of March until end of October)
Official languages: French, Dutch (dialect
called
Flemish)
and
German
International
dial
code:
+32
Internet
domain:
.be
Monetary unit: Euros ()

these communes has about 150,000

inhabitants and dates back to the original
city built in the 13th century. Some fun facts
about Brussels include the fact that on last
count there are 249 butchers, 874
hairdressers and 647 pharmacies. This can
be noticed almost immediately when you
walk down the streets, you will see at least 1
hairdresser and 1 or 2 pharmacies, which are
marked by giant neon green cross signs.
Brussels is one of the most international
cities in the world. 27% of the population is
made up of foreigners, not including those
who have taken Belgian citizenship. In
following with its status as the Capital of
Europe (the seat of the European Union),
Brussels is the location for 40,000 EU
employees, 4,000 NATO employees and
hosts about 300 permanent representations:
lobby groups, embassies and press
corporations.

Grand Place
The Grand Place is the central square
of Brussels.
It
is
surrounded
by
guildhalls, the city's Town Hall, and the
Breadhouse (French: Maison du Roi,
Dutch: Broodhuis). The square is the most
important tourist destination and most
memorable landmark in Brussels, along with
the Atomium and Manneken
Pis.
It
measures 68 by 110 metres (223 by 360 ft),
and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
History

Quick
Facts
about
Brussels
Brussels region is made up of 19 separate
communes; the City of Brussels is one of
1

Brabant, allowed the wares to be showcased

even in bad weather, but also allowed the
Dukes to keep track of the storage and sale
of goods, in order to collect taxes. Other
buildings, made of wood or stone, enclosed
the Grand Place.

Site plan of the square

In the 10th century, Charles, Duke of Lower
Lorraine constructed a fort on Saint-Gry
Island, the furthest inland point at which
the Senne river was still navigable. This was
the seed of what would become Brussels. By
the end of the 11th century, an open-air
marketplace was set up on a dried-up marsh
near the fort that was surrounded by
sandbanks. The market was called
the Nedermerckt, or Lower Market.[3]
The market likely developed around the
same time as the commercial development
of Brussels. A document from 1174
mentions a lower market (Latin: forum
inferius) not far from the port on
the Senne river. The market was well
situated
along
the Steenweg (Dutch: Causeway),
an
important commercial road which connected
the prosperous regions of the Rhineland and
the County of Flanders.

The Brussels Town Hall stands 96 metres

(315 ft) tall and is capped by a 3 metre (12
ft) statue of Saint Michael slaying a demon

At the beginning of the 13th century, three

indoor markets were built on the northern
edge of the Grand Place; a meat market, a
bread market and a cloth market.[3] These
buildings, which belonged to the Duke of
2

The Maison du
Roi (King's
or Broodhuis(Breadhouse).

House),

Improvements to the Grand Place from the

14th century onwards would mark the rise in
importance of local merchants and
tradesmen relative to the nobility. Short on
money, the Duke transferred control
of mills and commerce to the local
authorities. The city of Brussels, as with the
neighbouring
cities
of Mechelen and Leuven constructed a large
indoor cloth market to the south of the
square. At this point, the square was still
haphazardly laid out, and the buildings
along the edges had a motley tangle of
gardens and irregular additions.[3] The
city expropriated and demolished a number
of buildings that clogged the Grand Place,
and formally defined the edges of the
square.
The Brussels City Hall was built on the
south side of the square in stages between
1401 and 1455, and made the Grand Place
the seat of municipal power. It towers 96
metres (315 ft) high, and is capped by a 3
metre (12 ft) statue of Saint Michael slaying
a demon. To counter this symbol of
municipal power, from 1504 to 1536
the Duke of Brabant built a large building
across from the city hall as symbol of ducal
power.[3] It was built on the site of the first
cloth and bread markets, which were no
longer in use, and it became known as
the King's
House (Middle
Dutch:
's
Conincxhuys), although no king has ever

lived there. It is currently known as

the Maison du roi (King's House) in French,
though in Dutch it continues to be called
the Broodhuis(Breadhouse), after the market
whose place it took. Wealthy merchants and
the increasingly powerful guildsof Brussels
built houses around the edge of the square.
On August 13, 1695, a 70,000strong French army under Marshal Franois
de Neufville, duc de Villeroi began
a bombardment of Brussels in an effort to
draw the League of Augsburg's forces away
from their siege on French-held Namur in
what is now southern Belgium. The French
launched a massive bombardment of the
mostly
defenseless
city
centre
with cannons and mortars, setting it on fire
and flattening the majority of the Grand
Place and the surrounding city. Only the
stone shell of the town hall and a few
fragments of other buildings remained
standing. That the town hall survived at all
is ironic, as it was the principal target of the
artillery fire.

Guildhalls on the Grand Place

sellers of butter, cheese, herring, coal and so

on. The Grand Place was named
by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in
1998. One of the houses was owned by
the brewers' guild, and is now the home of a
brewers' museum.

Detail of guildhalls
The square was rebuilt in the following four
years by the city's guilds. Their efforts were
regulated by the city councillors and the
Governor of Brussels, who required that
their plans be submitted to the authorities for
their approval. This helped to deliver a
remarkably harmonious layout for the
rebuilt Grand Place, despite the ostensibly
clashing
combination
of
Gothic, Baroque and Louis XIV styles.
In the late 18th century, revolutionaries
sacked the Grand Place, destroying statues
of nobility and symbols of Christianity.
[2]
The guildhalls were seized by the state
and sold. The buildings were neglected and
left in poor condition, with their faades
painted, stuccoed and damaged by pollution.
In the late 19th century, mayor Charles
Buls had the Grand Place returned to its
former splendour, with buildings being
reconstructed or restored.
The Grand Place continued to serve as a
market until November 19, 1959, and it is
still called the Grote Markt orGreat
Market in Dutch. Neighbouring streets still
reflect the area's origins, named after the

Brussels Grand-Place was voted the most

beautiful square in Europe in 2010.
A survey by
a
Dutch
website
[4]
(stedentripper.com ) asked its users to rate
different squares across Europe. Moscows
Red Square and the Place Stanislas in
Nancy, France, took second and third place.
Flower carpet

The flower carpet in 2008

Every two years in August, an enormous
"flower carpet" is set up in the Grand Place
for
a
few
days.
A
million
colourfulbegonias are set up in patterns, and
the display covers a full 24 by 77 metres (79
by 253 ft), for area total of 1,800 square
metres (19,000 sq ft).[3] 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.[5]

little boy urinating into the fountain's basin.

It was designed byJerome Duquesnoy and
put in place in 1618 or 1619.[1] It bears a
similar
cultural
significance
as Copenhagen's Little Mermaid.

Location

Manneken Pis

Manneken Pis in Judo attire.

Artist

Jerome Duquesnoy

Year

1388:
original
1619: current version

Type

Bronze

Dimensions

61 cm (24 in)

Location

Brussels

Manneken
Pis
is
a
famous Brussels landmark. It is a small
bronze fountain sculpture depicting a naked

version

Manneken Pis dressed like an Organ Builder

(21 June 2009)
The famous statue is located at the junction
of Rue de l'tuve/Stoofstraat and Rue du
Chne/Eikstraat. To find it, one takes the left
lane next to the Brussels Town Hall from the
5

famous Grand Place and

hundred metres to

walks

few

History and legends

The 61 cm tall bronze statue on the corner of
Rue de l'Etuve and Rue des Grands Carmes
was made in 1619 by Brussels
sculptor Hieronimus Duquesnoy. The figure
has been repeatedly stolen; the current statue
is a copy from 1965. The original is kept at
the Maison du Roi/Broodhuis on the Grand
Place.
There are several legends behind this statue,
but the most famous is the one about
Duke Godfrey III of Leuven. In 1142, the
troops of this two-year-old lord were
battling against the troops of the Berthouts,
the lords of Grimbergen, in Ransbeke
(now Neder-over-Heembeek). The troops
put the infant lord in a basket and hung the
basket in a tree to encourage them. From
there, the boy urinated on the troops of the
Berthouts, who eventually lost the battle.
Another legend states that in the 14th
century, Brussels was under siege by a
foreign power. The city had held its ground
for some time, so the attackers conceived of
a plan to place explosive charges at the city
walls.
A
little
boy
named Julianske happened to be spying on
them as they were preparing. He urinated on
the burning fuse and thus saved the city.
There was at the time (middle of the 15th
century, perhaps as early as 1388) a similar
statue made of stone. The statue was stolen

several times. In 1619, it was replaced by

the current bronze statue, created by FrancoFlemish Baroque sculptor Jerome
Duquesnoy,
father
of
the
more
famous Franois Duquesnoy.
Another story (told often to tourists) tells of
a wealthy merchant who, during a visit to
the city with his family, had his beloved
young son go missing. The merchant hastily
formed a search party that scoured all
corners of the city until the boy was found
happily urinating in a small garden. The
merchant, as a gift of gratitude to the locals
who helped out during the search, had the
fountain built.
Another legend was that a small boy went
missing from his mother when shopping in
the centre of the city. The woman, panicstricken by the loss of her child, called upon
everyone she came across, including the
mayor of the city. A city-wide search began
and when at last the child was found, he was
urinating on the corner of a small street. The
story was passed down over time and the
statue erected as a tribute to the well-known
fable.
Another legend tells of the young boy who
was awoken by a fire and was able to put out
the fire with his urine, in the end this helped
stop the king's castle from burning down.
St. Michael and Gudula Cathedral

The St.
Michael
and
Gudula
Cathedral (Cathdrale Saint-Michel or SintMichiels Kathedraal) in Brussels is named
for the patron saints of Belgium and is the
primary church of the country.
History
After the Cathedral of St. Michael was
completed circa 1047, the Duke of Brabant
transferred the relics of Saint Gudula here.
Very little is known about this daughter of a
7th-century Carolingian nobleman, but her
relics are still sheltered in the cathedral.
In the 13th century, the cathedral was
renovated in the Gothic style. The choir was
constructed between 1226 and 1276. The
facade was completed in the mid 15th
century.

Belgium. All royal weddings

christenings take place here.

and

What to See
Perhaps the most outstanding feature of the
interior are the stained glass windows,
designed by various artists. Those by
Bernard van Orley, a 16th-century court
painter, are the most spectacular.
The window of The Last Judgment, at the
bottom of the nave, is illuminated from
within in the evening.
The remains of an earlier, 11thcentury Romanesque church that was on
the site can be glimpsed through glass
apertures set into the floor.

Today, the Cathedral of St. Michael and

Gudula is the episcopal see of the
Archbishop of Mechlin-Brussels and
therefore the leading Catholic church in