Fighting the Cobbles - My trip to Belgium in 2018, Part 15 - In Brussels (8)

This blog continues the previous Part 14,

https://gerdiwanninger.blogspot.com/2018/08/fighting-cobbles-my-trip-to-belgium-in_15.html 

Monday, June 25, 2018

  

   From the Brussels Park I crossed the Rue Royal and walked down the mountain to the Brussels Central Station or Gare Centrale (in French). 

   The design of the building complex was awarded to the architect Victor Horta in 1910 which he finished in 1912. With this new station came a major urban redevelopment project for which land was purchased and over 1,000 buildings demolished in the 1920's. The II. World War slowed construction, after the war Horta returned the building was completed but expanded by adding a new train line to the national airport and several underground passageways for pedestrians. An Islamic jihadist attempted to detonate a bomb in the station on June 2017 (wikipedia).
   Later I would go inside and would suggest every visitor to have a look. It is decorated with memorials from the II. World War; the building itself is classic 1910-1920's architecture. Very interesting...

Brussels Central Station or Gare Centrale (in French)

with the tracks underground!

   I continued to the Charles Buls Fountain in memory of the Belgian politician and mayor of the City of Brussels. At his initiative policemen had to speak both French and Dutch, bilingual signposts were established throughout the city. He was a steadfast defender and admirer of the Mont des Arts and the Grand Place, not a UNESCO World Heritage site, proposed the 1883 city ordinance protecting the facades of the grand Place buildings and provided funds for their restoration between 1883 and 1923.

Charles Buls Fountain

   In 1999 this new fountain with a larger-than-life-sized seated statue of Buls and his dog was erected at the Place Agora (Agoraplein) right in front of me. I placed the fountain under a protecting tree with a boy padding the statue's dog back. 

   Someone will notice the 'shiny' or polished parts of the statue. Belgians believe that by touching parts of a statue this will bring luck. I've notice this 'habit' during my whole trip in Belgium.

   Beside the fountain is also a Craft & Jewelry Market on weekends, which should not be missed.

   With leaving the Place Agora (or Agoraplein) I passed some buildings until I turned left into a small lane which suddenly opened a 68 by 110 meters large square, the Grand Place or Grote Markt (Dutch) of Brussels. It is surrounded by guildhalls and two larger edifices, the city's Town Hall and the King's House or Breadhouse containing the Museum of the City of Brussels.

Grand Place or Grote Markt ( in Dutch) of Brussels

   It all started at the end of the 11th century when an open-air market was set up on a dried-up march near a fort surrounded by sandbanks and called the Nedermerckt or Lower Market. At the beginning of the 13th century within the buildings of the Duke of Brabant there were three indoor markets built on the northern edge. Other buildings, made of wood or stone, enclosed the Grand Palace. Improvements from the 14th century onward would mark the rise in importance of local merchants and tradesmen.

Brussels City Hall

   The Brussels City Hall was built on the south side of the square in stages (between 1401 and 1455), thus making the Grand Place the seat of municipal power. From 1504 o 1536 the Duke of Brabant built a large building across from the city hall as a symbol of ducal power. It became known as the King's House, although no king has ever lived there. Over time wealthy merchants and the increasing powerful guilds of Brussels built houses around the edges of the square.

'King's House' or 'Bread House' as it was build over a former Bread Market 

   Even for a Monday morning the place was filled with visitors, most of them Asians following a mall flag mounted on a telescopic stick. I can only imagine how many pictures, conversations and surprises have been exchanged during these few moments on this square. I would suggest to avoid weekends to visit if possible... Without the splendor of the Grand Place the city of Brussels would be not the same and I believe many officials know this.

(to be continued @

https://gerdiwanninger.blogspot.com/2018/08/fighting-cobbles-my-trip-to-belgium-in_20.html)

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