We are here in Brussels staying in a business hotel near the center city. Not far is The Grand Place, where the Hotel de Ville and the Guildhalls are located.
At the beginning of the 13th century, three indoor markets were built on the northern edge of the Grand Place; a meat market, a bread market and a cloth market.[3] These buildings, which belonged to the Duke of Brabant, allowed the wares to be showcased even in bad weather, but also allowed the Dukes to keep track of the storage and sale of goods, in order to collect taxes. Other buildings, made of wood or stone, enclosed the Grand Place.
It has been destroyed in several wars since then and always rebuilt.
The Hotel de Ville is the town hall and dominates the square.
Here we stand in the Grand Square. It was raining and the rain stopped for a hour or so, then resumed.
The “Museum” which began as the “Bread house” and then became the palace is now partially covered by plastic cloths as work seems to be going on. We were there on a Monday so the museums were all closed. We walked about and Jill found a Starbucks coffee place so she was content.
We did quite a bit of walking and found The Black Tower, which is the only remaining remnant of the city wall.
The Black Tower is near the St Catherine’s Church and was on our walk. Naturally, any visit to Brussels must include Manneken Pis, the statue of the small boy urinating. Why this is an attraction, I:m not sure but it was surrounded by Chinese tourists snapping their pictures with it. We of course, had to follow suit.
Today we go to Waterloo Battlefield.
Tags: History