Beautiful Guildhalls at La Grand-Place in Brussels
The Grand-Place in Brussels City Center is an amazing example of a European town square. The buildings here are incredibly harmonious, but there is a history behind it. Back then, Brussels was a large trading town there were a lot of corporations set up shop here. Unfortunately, the importance of the square made it the target of attacks and large parts of it were destroyed. In a testament to the resolve of the people of Brussels, the town organized the reconstruction of the square. The reconstruction were done by the guild halls but the plans had to be approved by the town. As a result, the Grand-Place was rebuilt with buildings which are harmonious with one another. It looks like everything was planned and it really was.
Opulent Guildhalls at La Grand-Place in Brussels
The focus of the square is undoubtedly the town hall. As you might expect, the town hall is surrounded by people who want to be close to the action. The guildhalls were built around the square. You can think of it as some sort of central business district. The guildhalls though unique, almost share the same look. What is striking it the use of gold in the facade of the guildhalls. This is to show the prosperity of the medieval town of Brussels. The guildhalls are usually very narrow, usually only three windows wide. Even back there there was already a dearth of real estate here. I wonder how much rents costs here. A lot of these guild halls have been turned into restaurants and I imagine it to be a very nice place to have dinner.
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