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Photo: Michel wal, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Iconic church in Brussels New Street, the most popular shopping district in the city. Its history dates back to the 15th century, when a small chapel dedicated to Our Lady Mary was erected near the allotments just outside the boundaries of the city, with a little exaggeration "Finis Terrae" or literally "the end of the domain". It was destroyed during the invasion of the Dutch during the Dutch War of Independence in revolt against the Spanish, but rebuilt in 1617. Under pressure of the expanding city, the chapel became too small in the 17th century and was replaced with a church in 1646, although also that one had to be enlarged 10 years later. Construction of the current church started in 1708 and finished by 1730, led by architect Willem De Buryn and sculptor Hendrik Frans Verbruggen. The church in baroque architecture is three-aisled with a nave, two side aisles and a semi-circular choir, without a transept. It hosts paintings of Gaspar de Crayer, Joseph van Severdonck, and Charles de Groux. The pulpit is a design of Simon Joseph Duray from 1758. It depicts the Fall of Man between the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Moses with the tables of the law and Aaron represent the old covenant. The crucified Christ is the new Tree of Life. Of peculiar interest is a sculpture from 1625, present in the church since 1814 but originally from Aberdeen, it is said to bring luck with gambling and exams. The organ of the church, a design from 1856 by Hippolyte Loret, was restored in 1999 by Thomas and Jean Ferrard.
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Atelier de Recherche et d'Action Urbaine, a Francophone Brussels heritage conservation group, runs tours of the city's architectural gems, offering a variety of theme tours to Art Nouveau buildings, Art Deco houses, the EU quarter, the Grand-Place area and the Marolles/Marollen.
Place des Martyrs/Martelaarsplein
The political center of Belgium, with offices of the Flemish government, including the cabinet of the prime minister. It's one of the architectural highlights in Brussels, erected in a uniform neoclassical style between 1774 and 1778 by architect Claude Fisco. It was originally named the St. Michael square after the patron of the city, but the French occupiers didn't like places named after saints and renamed it the Bleachery square for the textile bleaching fields that used to be here. During the Belgian Revolution in 1830, intense guerrilla combat took place on and around the square between the Dutch royal forces and the revolutionaries. There were reportedly so many casualties on the revolutionary side that evacuation of the corpses from the city was not practical, thus it was decided to bury them under the square. The Belgian interim government decided to make the square a national cemetery for the casualties of the revolution. A statue and crypt were constructed shortly afterwards, in 1838, and over 400 revolutionaries are buried beneath the cobblestones of the square, many not far from where they were shot amid the Brussels streets and barricades. The Pro Patria statue is a sculpture from the royal sculpture of the first Belgian king Leopold I, Willem Geefs. After the statue and crypt were completed, the name of the square was changed to Martyrs' Square, a name it still holds.
This is the most central UGC in Brussels. Another UGC exists in Ixelles. As far as programming goes it's the usual Hollywood and mainstream European fare you'd expect from any other UGC in Europe. UGC De Brouckère, 38 Place De Brouckère - De Brouckèreplein.
Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste au Béguinage/Sint-Jan-Baptist ten Begijnhofkerk
The church was founded as the church of the Notre-Dame de la Vigne (Our Lady of the Vineyard) Beguinage, which was founded before 1247 outside the first Brussels city walls. Located near today's Beguinage Square, the community of beguines (lay women who lived a communal life but were not bound by perpetual vows) consisted of a small village with individual dwellings for each beguine, a mill, laundry facility, and a flower and vegetable garden, all enclosed in a wall. As part of their commune, the beguines constructed an infirmary and a small chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Vineyard. The largest of the 3 court beguinages in Brussels, the community grew rapidly and had reached a population of 1200 beguines by the end of the 13th century. The Beguine Quarter remained an important religious stronghold throughout the Middle Ages. They spent their days weaving wool and, from the 16th century onward, also started making lace. During the Calvinist occupation of Brussels from 1577 to 1585, their Gothic chapel was destroyed, and the beguines decided to rebuild it in a Baroque style in 1657. Designed by Flemish architect Lucas Faydherbe, the church is a notable illustration of the Italian-influenced Flemish Baroque style of the 17th century. Its facade is considered to be among the most beautiful in Belgium. However, during the French occupation in 1797 the beguines were evicted and the church was closed. The beguinage was leveled, and streets were laid out for redevelopment. Only the infirmary survived, and was renovated and transformed into a hospital. The church itself was reasonably well preserved, and renovated after it was damaged by a fire in 2000. The rear tower is a Baroque interpretation of the city hall tower.
Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée/Belgisch Centrum van het Beeldverhaal
Located in Europe's earliest shopping mall (a shiny Jugendstil/Art Nouveau palace). There is a permanent exposition featuring the early beginning of comics as well as its development. There is enough room for other varying expositions. The bookshop at the ground floor sells many different comics. A readers' library operates on the ground floor, where, for a low entrance fee, you can read many different comic books and buy fries.
A tribute to Marc Sleen, among Belgium's most famous comic artists, best known for his series The Adventures of Nero which ran continuously for half a century from 1947 to 2002, making it one of the longest running comic series. Together with Suske en Wiske, Jommeke and Kiekeboe, it is regarded as one of the "great four" Flemish comics. The museum honors Sleen and his work, opening in 2009 in presence of Marc Sleen himself, and king Albert II who claims to be among Nero's biggest fans. The location of the museum is symbolic since Sleen started his career as a cartoonist for the newspaper De Nieuwe Gids, whose offices were in the building of the present museum. It is managed by the Marc Sleen Foundation, and exhibits original art work, memoralia, and an overview of Sleens long and versatile career. Sleens favorite themes are omnipresent: safari, political cartoons, and the Tour de France. The museum has an archive of over 15,000 drawings in its basement, occasionally on display for temporary exhibitions. All displays are in Dutch and English. Nero comics can be purchased in the museum's shop, including the unique story The Ghost of Sand Street, which is available as a souvenir to visitors. The museum also organizes special tourist routes through Brussels, based on locations that appeared throughout the Nero comic book albums: the Black Tower at St. Catherine, the Law Courts, the Central Station, Mannenken Pis, and so on.