The Grand-Place and the bombardment of 1695

In front of you rises the Town Hall, the only great medieval building to survive the worst disaster in the history of Brussels. To understand this square, you have to picture it in ruins.

1A market that became a power

From the twelfth century this space was the marketplace of a city that lived off cloth. The craft guilds grew steadily more powerful, and the Town Hall, built between 1402 and 1455, is their manifesto in stone. Its tower is attributed to Jan van Ruysbroeck. On this very square, in June 1568, the Counts of Egmont and Horne were beheaded: Catholic noblemen accused of rebellion by the Duke of Alba. Their deaths fuelled the revolt of the Low Countries against Philip II.

2August 1695

In the middle of the Nine Years’ War, the army of Louis XIV, led by Marshal de Villeroy, bombarded Brussels for three days to force the allies to lift the siege of Namur. The guns were aimed at the centre: thousands of houses burned and almost the whole square was reduced to rubble. Ironically, the Town Hall tower served as the gunners’ aiming point, and it survived.

What you see around you is not medieval: it is the pride of guilds that rebuilt their square in just a few years.

Each guild raised its headquarters more lavishly than the last, in a Flemish Baroque dripping with gold. The Maison du Roi opposite is younger still: it was rebuilt in neo-Gothic style in the nineteenth century.

3What to look for

• The Town Hall tower, still standing after the bombs of 1695.
• The guildhall façades: look for dates and trade emblems on the gables.
• The Maison du Roi, where the original Manneken Pis is kept today.