Buildings on Grand-Place Square in Brussels, Belgium
© Vladislav Zolotov/Getty Images Plu
Square up to history. Buildings on Grand-Place Square in Brussels, Belgium
Few squares in Belgium wear history as well as the Grand Place. The surrounding buildings, seen here, began as guild houses, each funded by a specific trade. Brewers, bakers, merchants and craftsmen treated architecture as language, translating work, status and rivalry into stone through reliefs, coats of arms and generous gold leaf. Styles meet without caution. Gothic verticals rise beside Baroque curves, while the Town Hall, older than its neighbours and unapologetically asymmetrical, holds the composition together.
That unity, however, was forged under pressure. Most of the structures standing today rose from the ashes after 1695, when a French bombardment erased the medieval centre. The city responded by rebuilding quickly and boldly, turning destruction into a tightly choreographed urban reply. Life returned quickly: markets, public spectacles, royal ceremonies, festivals and the famous flower carpet have all taken their turn here. Centuries later, the square keeps its civic pulse. UNESCO calls it heritage. Brussels calls it home—and its most confident self-portrait.
Related Images
Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, China
Peggy's Cove Lighthouse at dusk, Nova Scotia
At the top of Mount Fuji in Japan. Happy New Year!
Old town of Tallinn, Estonia
An old farm in the Shetland Islands, Scotland
For Waitangi Day, the Pancake Rocks on New Zealand’s South Island
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state
Bing Today Images
