Historic Cities · Belgium
Brussels through the ages
The City of Brussels is the largest municipality and historical centre of the Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the French Community of Belgium, the Flemish Region, and Belgium. The City of Brussels is also the administrative centre of the European Union, as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions in its European Quarter.
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Brussels in 1560
Bruegel's Brussels
Brussels in 1560 is a compact, fortified capital where ducal power on the Coudenberg and the civic guilds of the Grand-Place shape daily life. This walk traces the approach across fields and the city gates, moves through market streets and the Senne's mills and breweries, and descends into the Marolles where kermesses and street processions animate the lanes.
The skyline is a serried ridge of steep slate and tile roofs punctured by the Town Hall's Gothic tower, the mass of the Coudenberg palace and church spires; stone and dark-stained timber dominate façades, stepped gables and carved cornices catch paint and limewash, and narrow cobbled streets channel smoke, cart-wheels and voices. Along the Senne low quays, wooden bridges and watermills give the lower town a working, damp character, while banners and guild colours enliven the squares.
The walk — 22 streets, squares and views
Sonian Forest Edge → Halle Gate (Porte de Hal) → Rue Haute → Kiekenmarkt (Chicken Market) → Senne Mills and Breweries → Place Saint-Géry → Grand-Place → Town Hall (Stadhuis) → King's House (Broodhuis) → Grasmarkt (Herbs Market) → …
Step inside — 12 interiors
Brewhouse of the Senne Mills · Fishmongers' Covered Hall · Clothiers' Guildhall · Gothic Council Hall · Breadhouse Grain Hall · Saint Nicholas Nave · Aula Magna of Coudenberg · Beguinage Refectory · Merchant's Counting House · Drapers' Workshop Loft · Pieter Bruegel's Workshop · Tavern Hall at the Kermesse
Planned from the Wikipedia record: History of Brussels.
Brussels in 1700
Rebuilt Grand-Place
Five years after the 1695 French bombardment, Brussels’s central square has been raised again by the city’s guilds into a coherent baroque ensemble trimmed with gilt. The walk moves from the approach through market streets and river quays to the newly restored Grand-Place, its intact town‑hall spire, and the working tapestry and lace workshops that are returning the city’s trade.
The centre is a broad paved rectangle about 68 by 110 metres, ringed by new guild façades in flamboyant baroque, pale limestone and plaster, their cornices and statuary highlighted with burnished gilt. The stone shell of the Gothic town hall and its soaring spire remain the dominant vertical, while lower narrow streets funnel carts and pedestrians toward the square. Roofs are steep and dark, chimneys rise in clusters, and the air carries wool dust, tallow smoke and river mist from the Senne.
The walk — 20 streets, squares and views
Halle Gate (Porte de Hal) → Rue Haute → Place Sainte-Géry → Senne Quays → Plattesteen → Rue de la Tête d'Or → Rue des Bouchers → Rue au Beurre → Cantersteen → Rue du Marché aux Herbes → …
Step inside — 13 interiors
Tapestry Workshop Loft · Shipchandler's Loft and Sail-room · Meat Market Great Hall · Lace Merchant's Showroom · Drapers' Guild Council Chamber · Goldsmiths' Ornamental Hall · Town Hall Spire Stair · Brewers' Guild Great Hall · Inn Parlour of the Pigeon · Breadhouse Accounting Hall · Hatters' Workshop and Showbench · Cloth Hall Under-Roof · Coudenberg Palace Antechamber
Planned from the Wikipedia record: Grand-Place.
Brussels in 1900
Art Nouveau Brussels
At the turn of the century Brussels is a capital remaking itself in stone, iron and glass, where Victor Horta's new Art Nouveau houses and public works by King Leopold II stand beside older guild façades and covered arcades. This walk follows the city from its southern station through the old market quarter, the glazed galleries and fashionable avenues to big civic promenades and a high legal esplanade.
Brussels in 1900 is a low, densely built capital punctuated by the sinuous iron and glass of new buildings, the neat chestnut-lined boulevards of Leopold II's projects and the dark mass of older Gothic and Baroque roofs. Shopfronts and covered galleries glitter with plate glass; tramlines and horse-drawn traffic thread broad boulevards; façades display stone, cast iron and polished exotic woods. Light favours skylights and glass canopies, and the city reads as a palette of soot-dark roofs, pale stone and gilt detail.
The walk — 21 streets, squares and views
Gare du Midi Forecourt → Porte de Hal (Halle Gate) → Rue Haute → Grand-Place → Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert → Rue Neuve → Manneken Pis → Place de la Monnaie → Boulevard Anspach → Place de Brouckère → …
Step inside — 12 interiors
Principal Waiting Hall · Gothic Council Hall · Luminous Covered Arcade · Opera Auditorium · Gilded Café Salon · Triumphal Arcade Gallery · Main Marble Staircase · Central Stairwell · Studio Atrium and Stair · Iron Assembly Hall · Sales Gallery Atrium · Domed Rotunda and Steps
Planned from the Wikipedia record: Victor Horta.
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