History of the Grand Palace in Brussels
by jumpingnorman
When you reach the Grand Place central market square, it would be nice to know how this place came about and retained such a wonderful collection of architecture.
The Grand Place was first laid out after the construction of the town hall, at the centre of the city's commercial district. Neighboring streets still reflect the area's origins, named after the sellers of butter, cheese, herring, coal and so on. The original Grand Place was a medley of buildings constructed between the 15th and 17th centuries in a variety of styles.
The French (in an effort to draw the League of Augsburg's forces away from their siege on French-held Namur in what is now southern Belgium) launched on August 13, 1695 a massive bombardment of the mostly defenseless city centre with cannons and mortars, setting it on fire and flattening the majority of the Grand Place and the surrounding city. Only the stone shell of the town hall and a few fragments of other buildings remained standing. That the town hall survived at all is ironic, as it was the principal target of the artillery fire.
The square was rebuilt in the following four years by the city's guilds. Their efforts were regulated by the city councilors and the Governor of Brussels, who required that their plans be submitted to the authorities for their approval. The result was a remarkably harmonious layout for the rebuilt Grand Place, despite the ostensibly clashing combination of Gothic, Baroque and Louis XIV styles.
The Euro
by Gili_S
On 1st. of January 2002, 12 countries in
Europe started to use the Euro.
as its currency.
Austria
Belgium
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Ireland
Italy
Luxemburg
Netherlands
Portugal
Spain
Euro is also used in non-members as
Monaco, San Marino & Vatican.
Not to confuse with the following EU members that do not use the Euro yet, but
I guess it is only matter of time.
Denmark
United Kingdom
Sweden
And few countries that are not members
in the EU at all: Norway, Iceland & Switzerland.
Grote Markt. Stadhuis
by bugulma
The first stone building placed here in 1402 and in 1444-1449 the city hall was built as we see it in present days. As all other buildings on the square it was broken in 1695. In 1840 the great wors of restoration began and all statues of Dukes and Duchesess that ruled the city in previous times were completely finished.
BRUSSELS TOWN HALL
by eden_teuling
This is a masterpiece of Gothic civil architecture from the 15th Century.
It is also famous for the richness of its interior.
Painting, sculptures and tapestries evoke local and national history in one of the most sumptuous environments in the country!
INFORMATION AND GUIDED TOURS ON RESERVATION tel.: +32 2 279 43 50
fax: +32 2 279 43 62
JUST BEING THERE and....let me tell you that I am often there because it is only 1 1/2 hrs. drive from my house in the deep SW of The Netherlands, near the Belgian Border......
PLEASE, ENJOY MY TRAVELOGUES!!
Brussels Tip
by Ronald_T
The day I was moving out there...
Brussels is a very nice place to visit and tourists will see a lot of the beauty it has. Like you see on this page, the buildings are fabulous over there. But there is always a difference between visiting and living there. Like I told before, I was living there for two years. The centre of Brussels is nearly completely uninhabited, just a few older people who lived there all of their life. The centre of Brussels is just one big shopping centre, office and catering industry. Most of the people moved away from the center and are living now in the suburbs of Brussels. But the integration of immigrants and the way the politician are working out the related problems is really disgusting. They're putting many people in ghettos what creates potentially a dangereous situation for street crime in these neighbourhoods. The culprits of this situation are the politicians, and Molenbeek, Anderlecht and Schaarbeek are famous for it…. And I lived in Molenbeek….
If I can fill in on VT 'I never visit again' I will do that…
A globe of iridescent beetles
The Atomium
Albert the first
The Ornamentation!
