The Bourse, a temple over a buried river

In front of you is the most theatrical building of nineteenth-century Brussels. It looks like a Roman temple, and in a way it was one: a temple to trade and money.

1A river under the boulevard

For centuries the Senne, the river that gave life to Brussels and ended up as an open sewer, flowed close by. In the 1860s the city decided to cover it over and lay out grand boulevards on top in the Parisian manner. The Bourse, built between 1868 and 1873 by the architect Léon Suys, was the jewel of that transformation. Among the sculptors who decorated its façade was a young Auguste Rodin.

The stock exchange operated here until 2015. After a long restoration, the building reopened in 2023 with a space dedicated to Belgian beer culture, the Belgian Beer World.

Beneath your feet, the Bruxella 1238 site preserves remains of the Franciscan friary where Duke John I of Brabant was buried.

2A duke with a brewer’s reputation

That duke, who died in 1294, has a curious legend attached to him: tradition identifies him with Gambrinus, the mythical king of beer. It is only a tradition, but it fits rather well with what the building houses today.

The square has become a meeting point: people celebrate, protest and wait for friends here ever since the boulevard was pedestrianised.

3What to look for

• The pediment, with its allegorical group of figures.
• The lions flanking the steps.
• The pedestrian square, above the old covered riverbed.