Page 72 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Belgium & Luxembourg

70  BEL GIUM AND L UXEMBOURG REGION B Y REGION

s Musées Royaux Just north of the Place du Grand pilgrim age tale, showing the
des Beaux-Arts Sablon, at Rue Sainte Anne 32, young girl in a boat.
de Belgique the small Museum of Erotics The first attempts to enlarge
and Mythology houses a this church took place around
See pp72–7. private collection of paintings, 1400 but, due to lack of funds,
sculptures, Greco­Roman the work was not completed
d Place du Grand antiquities and other curiosities. until 1550. The interior is simple
and beautifully propor tioned,
Sablon with interconnecting side
f Notre-Dame
Rue des Sablons, 1000 BRU. du Sablon chapels and an impres sive
City Map 2 D4. @ 27, 38, 48, 71, 95. pulpit dating from 1697. Of
q Gare Centrale, Louise, Parc. Rue de la Regence 38, 1000 BRU. particular interest are the 11
v 92, 93, 94, 97. ( Sat & Sun. City Map 2 D4. Tel (02) 2130065. magnificent stained­glass
@ 27, 38, 48, 71, 95. q Gare Centrale, windows, each 14­m (45­ft)
Situated on the slope of the Louise, Parc. v 92, 93, 94, 97. high, which dominate the
escarpment that divides Brussels Open 9am–6:30pm daily. inside of the church. When the
in two, the Place du Grand 8 on request. 7 building is lit, the win dows
Sablon is like a stepping stone shine into the night like
between the upper and lower Along with the Cathédrale welcoming beacons. Also of
halves of the city. The square’s Sts­Michel­et­Gudule interest is the Tour et
name derives from the French (see p67), this lovely Taxis Family Chapel,
sable (sand), as this old route to church is one of the built for a German
the city centre once passed finest surviving family that once lived
through some sandy marshes. examples of Brabant­ near the Place du
Today, the picture is very Gothic architecture Petit Sablon. In 1517,
different. This area, roughly in Belgium today. the family
triangular in shape, stretches A church was first commissoned a series
uphill from a 1751 fountain at erected here when of tapestries to com­
its base to the Gothic church the guild of memorate the
of Notre­Dame du Sablon. The crossbow­men was church’s legend. Most
square is surrounded by town granted permission of them were stolen
houses, with some Art Nouveau to build a chapel to Rich stained glass at in the 1790s by the
façades. This is a chic, wealthy Our Lady on this Notre-Dame du Sablon French Revolutionary
and busy part of Brussels, with sandy hill. Legend has Army, but some of
upmarket antiques dealers, it that a young girl in Antwerp the remaining examples now
fashionable restaurants and had a vision of the Virgin Mary, hang in the Musées Royaux
trendy bars, which really come who instructed the girl to take d’Art et d’Histoire in the Parc du
into their own in warm weather her statue to Brussels. The girl Cinquantenaire (see pp80–81).
when people sit outside. It is a carried the statue by boat
good place in which to soak up down the River Senne and g Place du Petit
the city’s atmo sphere. Wittamer, gave it to the crossbow men’s
the well­known chocolate shop chapel in the city. The chapel Sablon
and pâtisserie is at No. 12 and rapidly became a place of Rue de la Regence, 1000 BRU.
has a tearoom on the first floor. pilgrimage. The statue was City Map 2 D4. @ 27, 38, 48, 71, 95.
The area near the church hosts destroyed in 1565 and all that q Gare Centrale, Louise, Parc.
a lively, if expensive, antiques remains of the incident are v 92, 93, 94, 97.
market every weekend. two carvings of the original
These pretty, formal gardens
were laid out in 1890 and form
a charming spot. On top of the
railings that enclose the gardens
are 44 bronze statu ettes by Art
Nouveau designer Paul Hankar
(1859–1901). Each of the figures
represents a dif ferent medieval
city guild. Located at the back of
the gardens is a fountain built to
commemorate the counts
Egmont and Hornes, who
pleaded against the intro duc­
tion of the Spanish Inquisition
by King Philip II, and were
beheaded in 1568. On either
Chocolates on display at Brussels’s famous Wittamer pâtisserie on Place du Grand Sablon side of the fountain are 12 statues
For hotels and restaurants see p266 and pp280–83

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