The “Grand‘Place”, the main square of Brussels and a true jewel of Belgian architecture, overlooked by the 15th century Gothic-style Town Hall building, is a cradle of princely buildings. The scent of green becomes more intense in even years, when the “Grand’Place” in August is covered with a carpet of multicolored flowers. It is considered one of the most beautiful squares in the world and was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998.
A few tens of meters from this splendid square is the statue of the “Manneken Pis“, mascot of the city, the mischievous Brussels who continues to pee.
Over the centuries various legends about the “Manneken Pis” have spread, these are the most famous:
- The child in the statue put out a flame by urinating on it, saving the city from a fire.
- It is said that during the battle of Ransbeke, the cradle of the son of Godofredo of Lorraine was hung on the branches of a tree. During the battle the baby got out of the crib and urinated from a tree.
- According to another legend, the son of a noble from Brussels abandoned a procession to urinate on the wall of a witch’s house, which threw a curse on him turning him into a statue.
