Belgium and Luxembourg (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

BRUSSELS 59

Simple Gothic shapes on the restored side of the Église St-Nicolas

LUXURIOUS LACE

Lace (dentelle in French, kant in Dutch) has always been a

luxury product, as it is a hugely labour-intensive accessory.

Belgian lace has had a high reputation since the bobbin lace

technique was introduced from Italy in the 17th century.

Patterns are created by manipulating dozens of threads, each

attached to a wooden bobbin, around pins embedded in a

cushion. Lace has been used for clothes, shawls and church

vestments, as well as table and bed linen. Historically, it was

made by women of all social classes – by the nobility as a

pastime, by nuns and

béguines in convents,

and by ill-paid cottage

workers exploited by

unscrupulous middle-

men. During the 19th-

century love-affair with

lace, there were perhaps

50,000 lace-makers in

Belgium. Despite com-

petition from machine-

made lace, handmade

Belgian lace is still

produced and carries a

certificate of provenance. A display of delicately patterned lace

La Bourse 5

R Antoine Dansaert, 1000 BRU. City

Map 1 C2. Tel (02) 5091373. @ 46,

48, 86, 95. q Bourse. v 3, 4, 31,

32, 33. ¢ No longer open to the

public. Bruxella 1238 (02) 2794355.

# 1st Wed of month; can be visited

by appoint ment at other times. &

8 obligatory, 10:15am (English),

11 :15am (French), 2pm (Dutch).

Brussels’s Stock Exchange,

La Bourse, is one of the city’s

most impressive buildings,

and it dominates the square

of the same name. Designed

in Palladian style by architect

Léon Suys, the building was

constructed between 1867

and 1873. Among its most

notable features are the

ornate carv ings on each

façade. The great French

sculptor, Auguste Rodin

(1840 – 1917), is rumoured to

have crafted four caryatids

inside, as well as the statues

repre senting Africa and Asia

in allegorical groups on the

roof. Beneath the col onnade

are two beautifully detailed

winged figures repre senting

good and evil which were

carved by Flemish sculptor

Jacques de Haen (1831–

1900). Once the scene

of frantic trading, La

Bourse today houses

the offices of Euronext,

the owners of

the Belgian

Stock Exchange,

and all financial

activity is now

via computers.

On its northern side are some

archaeo logical remains from

medieval Brussels, exhibited

at Bruxella 1238. Discovered

unexpect edly during road-

works in 1998, these include

the remains of a 13th-century

Franciscan convent, a church

and the grave of Duke John I

of Brabant who was buried

here in 1294.

A small museum has been

built on the site, where inter-

ested visitors can see the

relics of social and religious

life in 13th-century Brussels

on display. To protect the

remains from degradation,

the area is accessible only by

guided tours, starting from the

Musée de la Ville de Bruxelles

in the Maison du Roi.

Église St-Nicolas 4

Rue au Beurre 1, 1000 BRU. City
Map 2 D2. Tel (02) 5138022. @ 29,
38, 46, 47, 63, 65, 66, 71, 86, 88.
q Bourse, De Brouckère. v 3, 4, 31,
32, 33. # 8am–6:30pm Mon–Fri,
9am–6pm Sat, 9am–7:30pm Sun and
public holidays. ¢ during services.

A market church was built on
this site at the end of the 12th
century, but, like much of the
Lower Town, it was damaged
in the 1695 French bombard-
ment. A cannon ball lodged

Allegorical statues crowning the

roof line of La Bourse

itself into an interior pillar and

in 1714, the bell tower finally

collapsed. Several res toration

pro jects were plan ned but

none came to fruition until

1956, when the west side of

the build ing was given a new

Gothic-style façade.

Dedicated to St

Nicolas, the patron saint

of mer chants, this low-

lit atmos pheric church

is known for

its choir stalls,

dating from

1381, which

depict the

story of St

Nicolas on medal lions. The

unusual angle of the chapel is

reportedly to avoid the flow

of an old stream.

sub-aqua wetsuit – each one
donated by a visiting dignitary
since the tradition began
some three centuries ago.