Page 76 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - Brussels Bruges Ghent & Antwerp

74  BRUSSELS AREA B Y AREA

y Galérie Bortier quite a considerable sum in the Parisian style. The Rue de la
1840s. The 65­m­ (210­ft­) long Madeleine itself also offers
Rue de la Madeleine 55, 1000 BRU.
Map 2 D3. @ 29, 38, 63, 66, 71. Galérie Bortier was built in 1848 plenty of shops for bibliophiles
q Gare Centrale. 7 and was designed by Jean­ and art lovers to browse.
Pierre Cluysenaer, the architect
Galérie Bortier is the only of the Galéries St­Hubert
shopping arcade in the city nearby (see p51). The Galérie
dedicated solely to book and Bortier opened along with the
map shops, and it has become then­adjacent Marché de la
the haunt of students, enthus­ Madeleine, but the latter was
iasts and researchers looking for unfortunately destroyed by
secondhand French books and developers in 1958.
antiquarian finds. A complete restoration of
The land on which the gallery Galérie Bortier was ordered by
stands was originally owned by the Ville de Bruxelles in 1974.
a Monsieur Bortier, whose idea The new architects kept strictly
it was to have a covered arcade to Cluysenaer’s plans and
lined with shops on either side. installed a replacement glass
He put 160,000 francs of his and wrought­iron roof made Crammed interior of a bookshop at the
own money into the project, to the original 19th­century Galérie Bortier

u Cathédrale Sts Michel et Gudule
The Cathédrale Sts Michel et Gudule is the national church of The twin towers rise above
Belgium, although it was only granted cathedral status in the city. Unusually, they were
1962. It is the finest surviving example of Brabant Gothic designed as a pair in the
architecture. There has been a church on the site of the 1400s; Brabant architecture
cathedral since at least the 11th century. Work began on typically has only one.
the Gothic cathedral in 1225 under Henry I, Duke of Brabant,
and continued over a period of 300 years. It was finally
completed with the construction of two front towers
at the beginning of the 16th century under Charles V.
The cathedral is made of a sandy limestone, brought
from local quarries. It was fully restored and cleaned
in the 1990s, a task that revealed all its splendour. Of
particular interest inside the cathedral are the Grenzig
organ and the Baroque pulpit depicting Adam and
Eve’s expulsion from Paradise.

. Last Judgement Window
At the front of the cathedral,
facing the altar, is a magnificent
stained­glass window of 1528
depicting Christ awaiting
saved souls. Its vivid reds,
blues and yellows place it
in the 16th­century style.
The Renaissance panes are
surrounded by later Baroque
garlands of flowers.
Romanesque remains of the first church
here, dating from 1047, were discovered
during renovation work. They can be
seen and toured in the crypt.

074-075_EW_Brussels.indd 74 10/01/17 10:54 am
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.7)
Date 1st October 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm