Royal Palace

A neoclassical church on the historic King's Square, overlooking the lower city and offering a magnificent view over the Grand-Place (particularly at dusk!). It started as a medieval abbey church, which was demolished by Charles Alexander of Lorraine during his expansive urban planning projects, despite having escaped the great fire of 1731 that destroyed the nearby Coudenberg Palace. The church was designed by architect Gilles-Barnabé Guimard, and the first stone was laid down by Charles Alexander himself in 1776. After the building's consecration, it was used as an abbey- and parish church simultaneously, and in addition it was the official church of the court of the Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands. Since it was designed to serve the church of the abbey of Saint-Jacques, it has a deep extended choir with place for choir stalls for the monks. During the French Revolution, as with all other religious buildings, the abbey was suspended and the church converted into a Temple of Reason, but restored to Catholic control in 1802. It played an important role in the inception of the Belgian monarchy 30 years later, when the first Belgian king, Leopold I, made his oath on the front steps of the church. Although the building lost some of its typical neoclassical temple-like appearance by the addition of a bell tower in the 19^th century and a coloured fresco on the pediment, it remains one of the most unusual examples of religious architecture in Brussels.

Features Belgium's history. Before it became a museum, the 18th-century luxury hotel was a royal residence.

From the middle ages, a castle overlooked Brussels from Coudenberg hill. From the 12th century, the successive monarchs and their representatives transformed a small fortified castle into a sumptuous residential palace, one of the most beautiful palace of Europe and one of Charles V’s main residences. This prestigious building is severely damaged by fire in 1731. Some forty years later, the ruins of the palace are pulled down and the ground flattened out for the construction of the new royal district. The remains of this palace make up the Coudenberg archaeological site. During your visit, you will discover the Isabella Street and the old structures of the main buildings of the former palace of Brussels, which are now the foundations for today’s royal district and the Hoogstraeten House where the most interesting discoveries made during the various archaeological excavations conducted on the Coudenberg are displayed.

The museum houses more than 7000 instruments, from all times and all over the world. The museum’s reputation is built on its extraordinary collection. The exhibits are displayed on four different floors featuring a wide range of instruments from all time periods and areas of the world. The MIM is a place to experience music. An infrared headphone system allows each visitor to enjoy the sound and melodies played by the instruments presented. The restaurant on the roof is also famous because of its panoramic view over Brussels. You need around 3 or 4 hours to really enjoy the whole museum, make sure you have enough time! The ornate façade of the building was decorated as such to promote the work of local tradesman and to protest the loss of jobs due to automation.

This museum is dedicated to the life and art of the Belgian artist René Magritte. It holds a multidisciplinary collection containing more than 200 of Magritte's works. This is part of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium: use the same entrance and ask for a ticket which includes the Magritte Museum.

The museum is dedicated to art of the period between 1868, when the Free Society of Fine Arts was founded in Brussels, and the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. The museum opened in 2013 and houses a collection of artworks from Constantin Meunier, James Ensor, Henri Evenepoel, Fernand Khnopff, Léon Spillaert and many others. It aims to celebrate the richness of the period in literature, architecture, photography, opera, music and poetry, featuring works by Maurice Maeterlinck, Emile Verhaeren, Octave Maus, Victor Horta, Henry Van de Velde, Maurice Kufferath, and Guillaume Lekeu. The artworks are grouped into 4 themes: Discovery of matter, in other eyes, Eruption of color, enchantment of light, New expressions, and Modernity. Free admission to the museum the 1st Wednesday of each month from 13:00.