Guildhalls
De Vos - The Fox (guild of Merchants) - Le Renard
In the middle of the 15th century the house was bought by the Brussels guild of merchants. It was rebuilt in stone in the 17th century and severely damaged by the French bombardment. The Fox was restored in 1699 in Flemish Baroque influenced by the Louis XIV style.
Den Horen - The Horn (guild of Boatmen) - Le Cornet
The original name of this house was Den Berch, but after the then wooden house was acquired in 1434 by the guild of boatmen, it was renamed to Den Horen. After being rebuilt in stone in the middle of the 17th century, it was restored by master carpenter Pastorana after the French bombardment. Also, city architect Samyn carried out renovations between 1899 and 1902.
De Wolf - The Wolf (guild of Archers) - La Louve
Originally a wooden house in the 14th century, purchased by the Brussels Guild of Archers. After a fire in 1690 it was rebuilt in stone, according to the plans of architect and painter Herbosch. Also this house was not spared by the French Bombardment, but it would take until 1890 before the house was fully restored by the city architect Pierre-Victor Jamaer. Above the door you see Romulus and Remus drinking from the wolf.
Den Sack - The Sack (guild of Carpenters) - Le Sac
Also, this house was originally built in wood and owned by the Serghuys family. It was in 1444 sold to the guild of Carpenters. Like most houses on the Grote Markt, the Sack was rebuilt in stone after French bombardment.
Den Cruywagen - The Wheelbarrow (guild of Gardeners) - La Brouette
Like most buildings of that era, in the 13th century The Wheelbarrow was built as a house in wood, also owned by the Serghuys family. Since it quickly fell into disrepair because the family moved to their stone house, it was rebuilt by the guild of gardeners who made it their headquarters. It was rebuilt again, but this time in stone around 1644, and soon thereafter laid in ruins by the French bombardment of 1695. Eventually it was restored in the same time as Den Coninck van Spaignien around 1697.
Den Coninck van Spaignien – King of Spain - Le Roi d'Espagne
In the 13th century, the Brussels civil family Serghuys wanted to protect themselves against potential attackers and looters, and therefore built one of the first stone houses on the market. After a fire in 1695, the mayor of the city gave the order to put a new house. A dome had been put on top of the roof, which in the course of the years had disappeared. During the reconstruction of the house by architect Samyn (in 1900) the dome was reconstructed. The house was named after King Charles II of Spain, a bust can still be seen on the second floor.
Grand Place
The Grand Place or Grote Markt is the central square of Brussels. It is surrounded by guildhalls, the city's Town Hall, and the Breadhouse. The square is the most important tourist destination and most memorable landmark in Brussels. It measures 68 by 110 metres, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Early history
In the 10th century, Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine constructed a fort on Saint-Géry Island, the furthest inland point at which the Senne river was still navigable. This was the seed of what would become Brussels. By the end of the 11th century, an open-air marketplace was set up on a dried-up marsh near the fort that was surrounded by sandbanks. The market was called the Nedermerckt, or Lower Market.
The market likely developed around the same time as the commercial development of Brussels. A document from 1174 mentions a lower market (Latin: forum inferius) not far from the port on the Senne river. The market was well situated along the Causeway (Dutch: Steenweg), an important commercial road which connected the prosperous regions of the Rhineland and the County of Flanders.
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. 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.
The Brussels Town Hall stands 96 metres tall and is capped by a 3 metre statue of Saint Michael slaying a demon
Rise in importance
Improvements to the Grand Place from the 14th century onwards would mark the rise in importance of local merchants and tradesmen relative to the nobility. Short on money, the Duke transferred control of mills and commerce to the local authorities. The city of Brussels, as with the neighbouring cities of Mechelen and Leuven constructed a large indoor cloth market to the south of the square. At this point, the square was still haphazardly laid out, and the buildings along the edges had a motley tangle of gardens and irregular additions. The city expropriated and demolished a number of buildings that clogged the Grand Place, and formally defined the edges of the square.
The Brussels City Hall was built on the south side of the square in stages between 1401 and 1455, and made the Grand Place the seat of municipal power. It towers 96 metres high, and is capped by a 3 metre statue of Saint Michael slaying a demon. To counter this symbol of municipal power, from 1504 to 1536 the Duke of Brabant built a large building across from the city hall as symbol of ducal power. It was built on the site of the first cloth and bread markets, which were no longer in use, and it became known as the King's House (Middle Dutch: 's Conincxhuys), although no king has ever lived there. It is currently known as the Maison du roi (King's House) in French, though in Dutch it continues to be called the Broodhuis (Breadhouse), after the market whose place it took. Wealthy merchants and the increasingly powerful guilds of Brussels built houses around the edge of the square.
Destruction and rebuilding
On August 13, 1695, a 70,000-strong French army under Marshal François de Neufville, duc de Villeroi began a bombardment of Brussels in an effort to draw the League of Augsburg's forces away from their siege on French-held Namur in what is now southern Belgium. The French launched a massive bombardment of the mostly defenseless city centre with cannons and mortars, setting it on fire and flattening the majority of the Grand Place and the surrounding city. Only the stone shell of the town hall and a few fragments of other buildings remained standing. That the town hall survived at all is ironic, as it was the principal target of the artillery fire.
The square was rebuilt in the following four years by the city's guilds. Their efforts were regulated by the city councillors and the Governor of Brussels, who required that their plans be submitted to the authorities for their approval. This helped to deliver a remarkably harmonious layout for the rebuilt Grand Place, despite the ostensibly clashing combination of Gothic, Baroque and Louis XIV styles.
In the late 18th century, revolutionaries sacked the Grand Place, destroying statues of nobility and symbols of Christianity. The guildhalls were seized by the state and sold. The buildings were neglected and left in poor condition, with their façades painted, stuccoed and damaged by pollution. In the late 19th century, mayor Charles Buls had the Grand Place returned to its former splendour, with buildings being reconstructed or restored.
20th century
The Grand Place continued to serve as a market until November 19, 1959, and it is still called the Great Market or Grote Markt in Dutch. Neighbouring streets still reflect the area's origins, named after the sellers of butter, cheese, herring, coal and so on. The Grand Place was named by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1998. One of the houses was owned by the brewers' guild, and is now the home of a brewers' museum.
See: wikipedia
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