The Halle Gate is a massive, stone-walled tower characterized by its sharp spires and conical roof. Built in thirteen eighty-one, it was once one of seven fortified entrances to Brussels, providing a passage through the second set of city…
The History of Brussels
This walk traces the architecture of Brussels to show how a medieval fortification grew into a royal capital and, eventually, the headquarters of the European Union.
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1. Halle Gate
2. Palace of Justice | Brussels
The Palace of Justice is defined by its overwhelming scale and a heavy, towering stone presence that dominates the plateau above the Marolles district. Designed by architect Joseph Poelaert and built between eighteen sixty-six and eighteen…
3. Église Notre-Dame des Victoires au Sablon
The Église Notre-Dame des Victoires au Sablon rises above the surrounding neighborhood with a complex exterior of flying buttresses, pinnacled turrets, and flamboyant Gothic stone tracery. This church is one of the clearest examples of…
4. Coudenberg 3
The street known as Coudenberg, or Koudenberg, is a short thoroughfare in the heart of the Royal Quarter. Its name translates to cold hill, a reference to the higher ground that once hosted the seat of power for dukes, kings, and emperors.…
5. Grand Place
The Grand Place is a cobbled rectangular square defined by its densely packed, narrow guildhalls featuring richly ornamented facades, gilded details, and steep gables. At its center stands the Gothic Hôtel de Ville, which is recognizable…
6. Brussels Stock Exchange
The Brussels Stock Exchange is easy to recognize by its monumental entrance, where a broad staircase flanked by sculpted lions rises to a portico of six massive Corinthian columns. Completed in eighteen seventy-three, this eclectic…
7. La Monnaie - De Munt
La Monnaie, or De Munt in Dutch, occupies the site of a former seventeenth-century mint, a history that gave the building its name. You can identify the structure by its neoclassical portico, featuring eight columns and a pediment…
8. Congress Column
The Congress Column rises forty-seven meters above the Place du Congrès. Inspired by Trajan’s Column in Rome, this neoclassical monument is topped by a bronze statue of King Leopold I, the first King of the Belgians. The architect Joseph…
9. Berlaymont
The Berlaymont is a large, cross-shaped building defined by four glass and steel wings that extend outward from a central core. It stands at the Robert Schuman Roundabout and serves as the headquarters of the European Commission, the…