Brussels and the Manneken-Pis

The Manneken-Pis is a 61-centimetre bronze boy urinating into a fountain. It has been doing this since 1619. The original statue is now in the Brussels City Museum for safekeeping and a copy stands at the corner of Rue de l’Etuve and Rue du Chene, five minutes’ walk southwest of the Grand Place. Visitors make a pilgrimage from across Europe to see it, and most of them arrive with similar expressions: mild bewilderment that this is the thing, followed by mild amusement. That reaction is itself part of what the city is about. Brussels has a long tradition of not taking Brussels very seriously.

The statue is dressed in costume roughly half the year – over 1,000 outfits in his wardrobe, from an Elvis suit to military uniforms to formal dress for visiting dignitaries. The costume calendar is posted at mannekenpis.brussels; timing a visit to a dressing event is worth the planning if you’re in town.

The Grand Place

The Grand Place, three minutes from the statue, is genuinely one of the finest medieval squares in Europe – a UNESCO World Heritage Site of elaborately guildhall facades in Baroque and Gothic styles surrounding a cobbled space. The Maison du Roi (King’s House) on the north side houses the Brussels City Museum, including the Manneken-Pis wardrobe collection, where you can see the full 1,000+ costumes in display cases. Entry is worth an hour.

The square is spectacular after dark when the buildings are lit. Weekend mornings have a flower market. The architecture is the real point; the tourist restaurants occupying the surrounding cafes are not.

What Else to See

The Atomium on the city’s north side is the original structure from the 1958 World Expo – nine steel spheres connected by tubes, representing an iron crystal cell enlarged 165 billion times. It was meant to be temporary and has become one of Brussels’ defining images. The views from the upper sphere are panoramic.

The Jeanneke-Pis (a female counterpart to the Manneken, created 1987) and the Zinneke (a dog, added later) complete the unofficial troika of urinating Brussels mascots. They are deliberately less impressive than the original; visiting all three is a kind of self-aware city joke.

Parc du Cinquantenaire contains three world-class museums (military history, art and history, autoworld) in the park’s triumphal arch complex and is undervisited relative to its quality.

Eating

Belgian food builds around four genuine strengths: beer (700+ nationally registered varieties), chocolate (Belgian chocolatiers produce more exported chocolate than any European country bar Switzerland), frites (thicker than French, fried twice), and waffles. A plate of moules-frites (mussels with fries) at a brasserie near the Grand Place costs around 20-25 euros and is worth every euro if the mussels are good. Ask where they’re from.

Comme Chez Soi on Place Rouppe is one of the best restaurants in Belgium – two Michelin stars, classic French-Belgian cooking. Le Fourneau in Ixelles does excellent modern Belgian food in a quieter neighbourhood. For beer: Moeder Lambic in Saint-Gilles has the best tap list in the city, with Lambic and Gueuze beers that don’t travel well and are best drunk here.

Where to Stay

Hotel Amigo in the old town is the most historically situated luxury option, directly behind the Grand Place. For mid-range with character, the boutique hotels around the Sablon area (Ixelles) are better value than old town equivalents and a 15-minute walk from the main sights.

Practical Notes

Brussels uses both French (Francophone) and Dutch (Flemish) as official languages; most signs are bilingual. English is widely understood. The metro, tram, and bus network is reliable; a MOBIB card covers all modes. The European Parliament and European Commission buildings are in the Leopoldwijk quarter, a 20-minute walk east, and both offer visitor access by arrangement. Brussels is best seen as a two-day city – enough time for the main sights, a long lunch, and the evening around the Grand Place.