Brussels 1

I started the day with le petit déjeuner at the Grand-Place, one of Europe's grandest and historical squares, filled with flamboyant Baroque style former Guildhouses. The Grand-Place is dominated by the majestic 15th century Hôtel de Ville with its 96 metre spire soaring above its mutiple windows and arcaded gallery. I spent most of the day looking around the area known as the Lower Town, which contained some picturesque squares such as the Place des Martyrs, representing the 445 rebels who died in the Belgium revolution of 1810 and some wonderful buildings like the grandiose Bourse, a Neoclassical structure built in 1873 as the city's former Stock Exchange. Nearby was the Baroque Église Sainte-Catherine, a little battered from the Wars of Religion. However, inside was a sensually carved stone statuette of a 14th century Black Madonna, that was thrown into the River Senne by Protestants, but fished out while floating on a fortuitous clod of peat. I finished the day at the Manneken Pis, a diminutive statue of an urchin having a pee, embodying the "irreverent spirit" of the city.







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