June 29, 2023 - Belgium
Grand Place Brussels
I didn't know much about Brussels going in but we soon found out that the Grand Place is clearly the top attraction.  The Grand Place is considered one of the most beautiful medieval squares in Europe.  I can see why.  The Grand Place is a happening place.
   
Aerial view of the Grand Place.
   
Unfortunately, they were having some event and bleachers were set up all over the place, blocking the view.
 
Festivities and cultural events are frequently organised on the Grand-Place, such as sound and light shows during the Christmas and New Year period as part of the "Winter Wonders",[79] as well as concerts in the summer. Among the most important and famous are the Flower Carpet and the Ommegang, both taking place in the summer.  The Belgian Beer Weekend, an event dedicated to Belgian beers, during which small and large breweries present their products at the Grand-Place, has taken place since 2010.  The square has also been used for community gatherings and public celebrations, such as receiving athletes following sporting events.
 
These houses are named, from right to left: L'Étoile, Le Cygne, L'Arbre d'Or, La Rose and Le Mont Thabor
 
To the left, and obscured by the bleachers, is the House of the Dukes of Brabant.
   
The House of the Dukes of Brabant is such a beautiful building, you have to see it.  Here is a good picture from Wikipedia, taken by Zairon.
   
The Town Hall which is the central edifice on the Grand-Place.  It was erected in stages, between 1401 and 1455, on the south side of the square, transforming it into the seat of municipal power. It is also the square's only remaining medieval building.
   
Very Gothic.
   

The Grand-Place is lined on each side with a number of guildhalls and a few private houses. At first modest structures, in their current form, they are largely the result of the reconstruction after the bombardment of 1695. The strongly structured facades with their rich sculptural decoration including pilasters and balustrades and their lavishly designed gables are based on Italian Baroque with some Flemish influences.

To the right of Lynnette are the following houses:  right to left:  Le Cerf, Joseph et Anne, L'Ange, La Chaloupe d'Or, Le Pigeon and Le Marchand d'Or.
   

The King's House.  As early as the 12th century, the King's House was a wooden building where bread was sold.  The original building was replaced in the 15th century by a stone building which housed the administrative services of the Duke of Brabant, which is why it was first called the Duke's House, and when the same duke became King of Spain, it was renamed the King's House.

The King's House was rebuilt after suffering extensive damage from the bombardment of 1695. A second restoration followed in 1767 when it received a neoclassical portal and a large roof pierced with three oeil-de-boeuf windows.  It was reconstructed once again in its current neo-Gothic between 1874 and 1896.

The current building, whose interior was renovated in 1985, has housed the Brussels City Museum since 1887.
   
In the center of the picture are the houses, from right to left: Le Heaume, Le Paon, Le Petit Renard, Le Chêne, Sainte-Barbe and L'Âne
   

The square is surrounded by really beautiful architecture.   There are lots of nice cafes and restaurants in the area.  I think having a wedding here is popular.  We saw a wedding party; I think the wedding had already taken place.

In addition to the name of the respective guild, each house has its own name.

From right to left: Le Roy d'Espagne, La Brouette, Le Sac, La Louve, Le Cornet and Le Renard.

We ate lunch outside at the lower right of the western row of houses with the red and green awnings.
   
Outside the King's Palace where the entrance to the city museum is.  We went into the City Museum which was excellent.
   
Interesting model of Medieval Brussels in the 13th century.  There were three major areas:  the commercial area long the Senne River, the religious quarter in the upper city, and the political quarter with the ducal castle/palace of Coudenberg at its heart.
   
You can see the River Senne flowing through the walled city at lower left to right.  The river has long since been covered up.
   
Panoram of Brussels around 1690.  At lower right is a well-to-do family enjoying a nice day.
 
According to travellers, in the 16th and 17th centuries, Brussels was one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.  Its particular topography -- a valley bordered to the east by a plateau mostly covered by forests -- offered magnificent views.
   

Porcelain was a big deal, back in the day.  Now we take it for granted, but it was not always so.

Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between 1,200 and 1,400 °C (2,200 and 2,600 °F). The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arise mainly from vitrification and the formation of the mineral mullite within the body at these high temperatures. End applications include tableware, decorative ware such as figurines, toilets ("porcelain thrones") and washbasins, and products in technology and industry such as electrical insulators and laboratory ware.

The manufacturing process used for porcelain is similar to that used for earthenware and stoneware, the two other main types of pottery, although it can be more challenging to produce. It has usually been regarded as the most prestigious type of pottery due to its delicacy, strength, and high degree of whiteness. It is frequently both glazed and decorated.

Porcelain slowly evolved in China and was finally achieved (depending on the definition used) at some point about 2,000 to 1,200 years ago. It slowly spread to other East Asian countries, then to Europe, and eventually to the rest of the world. The European name, porcelain in English, comes from the old Italian porcellana (cowrie shell) because of its resemblance to the surface of the shell.  Porcelain is also referred to as china or fine china in some English-speaking countries, as it was first seen in imports from China during the 17th century.
   
The gilded eagle, whose talons hold a bundle of lightning bolts, was one of Emperor Napoleon I's symbols.  It was created around 1811.  This statue resided in a niche on the facade of a Napoleon enthusiast's house.  .
   
A painting of the Le Febure family in the courtyard of their Brussels residence, 1666.   The man of the house, jurist Gabriel Le Febure, was of a noble family.  He is here with his family, all dressed in their finest attire.  The musical instruments symbolize familiar harmony.
   
 
   
Gardens of a Brussels mansion, first half of the 18th century.
   
Painting of the Brussels Town Hall and the Sunday market in the Grand Place, 1887.
   
This is the original vane of the spire of the Town Hall -- the Archangel Saint Michael -- installed in 1455.  It was dismantled in 1993 and replaced in 1996 with a copy, having survived the bombing and burning of the city by Louis XIV and the French in 1695 and five centuries of exposure to the weather.
   

The Grand-Place in flames during the bombardment of Brussels in 1695. On the left, the Town Hall; on the right, the King's House, and in the background, the Church of St. Nicholas.

Most of the square was destroyed. Only the facade and the tower of the Town Hall, which served as a target for the artillery, and some stone walls resisted the incendiary balls survived. The houses that surrounded the Grand-Place were rebuilt during subsequent years, giving the square its current appearance
   

Here is a picture of a fountain somewhere in Brussels with its internationally famous statuette known as Manneken-Pis (or Dutch for 'Little Pissing Man').  Manneken Pis was redesigned by the Brabantine sculptor Jérôme Duquesnoy the Elder and put in place in 1619. 
Manneken Pis is one of the best-known symbols of Brussels and Belgium, inspiring several legends, as well as numerous imitations and similar statues both nationally and abroad.  The figure is regularly dressed up and its wardrobe consists of around one thousand different costumes. Since 2017, they have been exhibited in a dedicated museum called Garderobe MannekenPis.
 
   
This is the original Manneken-Pis statue from 1619, kept here in the City Museum.
 
Although Brussels' Manneken Pis is the best known, others exist all across the country.  Numerous copies or imitations of Manneken Pis have been created abroad, as well.
 
   
Between the 15th and 18th centuries, Brussels specialized in the production of luxury tapestries.  This sector took over from the cloth trade (production of wool cloth) as the engine of the economy.
 
The tapestries were woven in colored woollen threads, to which silk, gold and silver threads were sometimes added.  They contributed to the rich decoration of castles, residences of the elite, and churches.
   
We had lunch on the Grand Place.  Yeah, it was a little touristy, and maybe a little overpriced, but the food and service were good, and the view just about as good as it gets.
   
Lynnette estatic about her mussels.
   
 
   
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