Belgium and Luxembourg (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

60 BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG REGION BY REGION

For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp262–3 and pp284–6

Halles St-Géry 7

Place St-Géry 23, 1000 BRU. City

Map 1 C2. @ 46, 48, 86, 95.

q Bourse. v 3, 4, 31, 32, 33.

In many ways, St-Géry can be

considered the birthplace of

Brussels. In the 6th cen tury, a

chapel was built here suppos-

edly by St Géry, the Bishop

of Cambrai at the time. The

chapel was located on an

island in the marshes of the

River Senne, which now

flows underground through

the city. In AD 977, a fortress

took over the site, marking the

real foundation of Brussels.

In 1881, a covered meat

market was built here in the

Neo-Renaissance style. Its glass

and intricate iron work were

renovated in 1985, and the hall

now serves as a cultural centre

with special focus on the city’s

heritage and environment.

Manneken-Pis 6

Corner of Rue de l’Etuve and Rue du
Chêne, 1000 BRU. City Map 1 C3.
@ 27, 29, 38, 46, 48, 63, 86, 95.
q Bourse, Gare Centrale. v 3, 4,
31, 32, 33.

An unlikely attraction, this tiny
statue of a young boy, barely
61 cm (2 ft) high, reliev ing
himself into a small pool is as
much a part of Brussels as the
Trevi Fountain is of Rome.
The current statue of
Mannekin Pis by Jérôme
Duquesnoy the Elder has been
in place since 1619. However,
there is evidence to
suggest that a stone
fountain depicting
the same figure stood
there before it,
possibly as early
as 1451.
The charm of
this famous statue
comes from the
many rumours
and fables
behind it. One
theory claims
that in the
12th century the son of a duke
was caught urinating against a
tree in the midst of a battle
and was thus commemorated
in bronze as a symbol of
military courage. The inspi-
ration for the statue has been
revealed as Cupid.
In its long history the
statuette has been the victim
of several thefts. A particularly
violent theft in 1965 left the
statue broken in two pieces,
leaving just the ankles and feet
remaining. The missing body
of the statue reappeared a
year later when it was found
in a canal.
In the year 1698 the govenor
of the Netherlands, Maximilian
Emmanuel, brought a gift to
the city in the form of a blue
woollen coat for the statue.
This is a tradition that contin-
ues today with visiting heads
of state donating miniature
versions of their national
costume. The little boy has a
collection of over 800 outifts
which are housed in the
Musée de la Ville de Bruxelles,
where 100 are on display at
any one time. Among the col-
lection is a miniature Samurai,
Santa Claus and Elvis suit.

Brussels’s iconic
Manneken-Pis

Église St-Jean-

Baptiste-au-

Béguinage 9

Place du Béguinage, 1000 BRU.

City Map 1 C1. Tel (02) 2178742.

@ 47. q Ste-Catherine. # 10am–

5pm Tue–Sat, 10am–8pm Sun. 7

This stone-clad church was

consecrated in 1676 around

the country’s largest béguine

community, which had been

estab lished since 1250. Fields

and orchards around the site

contained cottages and houses

Église Ste-

Catherine 8

Place Ste-Catherine 50, 1000 BRU.

City Map 1 C2. Tel (02) 5133481.

@ 47. q Ste-Catherine, De

Brouckère. v 3, 52, 55, 56, 81, 90.

# 8am–5:30pm Mon–Sat, 10am–

1:30pm Sun. 7 on request.

The first church to occupy

this site was built in the 15th

century. All that remains of

it today is a Baroque tower

dating from 1629. The present

church was rede signed in a

variety of styles between 1854

and 1859 by Joseph Poelaert,

architect of the monumental

Palais de Justice (see p67).

Notable features of the inte-

rior include a lovely 14th-

century stone statue of the

Black Madonna as well as

a painted wooden statue

of St Catherine, complete

with the wheel on which

she was mar tyred. To the

east of the church is the stone

Tour Noire (Black Tower),

a remnant of the city’s 12th-

century defensive walls.

Place Ste-Catherine was laid

out as a square in front of

the church in 1870, when the

canal basin originally on this

site was filled in. This used to

be the city’s main fish market,

and is still the best spot to

indulge in Brussels’s famous

seafood, but prices here are

generally high. Once situated

at the end of the canal link to

the North Sea, the Quai aux

Briques (Brick Quay) and Quai

au Bois à Brûler (Firewood

Quay) flank the square and

recall the area’s trading past.

Busy restaurants and cafés on the

square outside Halles St-Géry

Spacious vaulted interior of the

serene Église Ste-Catherine