Grand Place, in the heart of Brussels, certainly lives up to its best-known name; it’s large and it’s surrounded by a dazzling array of mostly-Baroque buildings, many of them tinted with gold. Since 1998, it’s been a UNESCO World Heritage site.
It’s also, even in chilly February when I visited, heavily populated with visitors, clustered around guides’ umbrellas and looking up at the amazing detail and the 300-foot spire of the Town Hall.
It’s no accident that the Town Hall is largely Gothic while the rest of the square is Baroque. The Town Hall was the only survivor of incendiary bombardment by French troops in 1695; ironically, it was the intended target of the attack. The others were all built or rebuilt after.
For most of its nearly thousand-year history, Grand Place, or as it’s called in Flemish Grote Markt, served as a hub for the city’s bustling bread, meat, vegetable and cloth markets. It’s in the market business these days, too, but mostly in the form of shops selling either souvenirs or luxury goods. The King’s House (title photo), by the way, was never occupied by a king; it served as royal offices and now houses the Brussels City Museum. In Flemish, its name translates to Bread House, because it was built on the site of the former bread market.
And, speaking of names: It’s no accident that it’s called Grand Place rather than Grande Place, as it would be in modern French. That’s because the name and the spelling predate modern French!
No problem finding Grand Place as you wander around Brussels—just follow the winding streets to the tower!
