Brussels Mannekin Pis

Manneken Pis: The 61cm Bronze Boy and a City That Genuinely Finds This Funny

Manneken Pis is 61 centimetres tall and has been urinating in public in central Brussels since 1619. Thieves have stolen it three times. It has over 1,000 registered costumes, donated by governments, organisations, and clubs from around the world, and is dressed in them for approximately 130 days per year on a formal schedule maintained by the city. The costume wardrobe is displayed in the GardeRobe MannekenPis museum, which is two minutes’ walk away and more interesting than the statue itself. This is not a criticism of the statue.

The fact that the most recognisable symbol of Belgium’s capital is a small boy urinating tells you something useful about Brussels: the city has a specific relationship with self-deprecation and with what the French call décalage, the deliberate mismatch between form and content, the grand gesture applied to something ridiculous. The European Union’s institutional headquarters are also here, which strengthens the metaphorical reading if you want it.

Grand Place

The Grand Place, five minutes’ walk from Manneken Pis, is one of the finest city squares in Europe. The Gothic City Hall, the Maison du Roi (now the GardeRobe museum), and the guild houses around the perimeter represent the most intact ensemble of 17th-century commercial architecture in northern Europe. Victor Hugo, after seeing it in 1852, called it “the most beautiful square in the world.” The claim is arguable. The square at night, when the facades are lit and the crowds are thinner, makes the argument more persuasively.

The Brussels chocolate shops immediately surrounding Grand Place are mostly tourist operations at tourist prices. The serious chocolatiers are in the surrounding streets: Pierre Marcolini in the Saint-Gilles district is the one with the most consistent international reputation.

Beer

Belgium produces an extraordinary range of beer styles, Trappist ales, lambics, gueuze, saisons, and Brussels has multiple bars dedicated to serious beer culture. Delirium Tremens bar on the Impasse de la Fidélité has over 2,000 beers on the menu, which is a gimmick, but includes excellent examples of everything. Cantillon brewery (Rue Gheudestraet 56) is the surviving traditional lambic producer in central Brussels: spontaneously fermented sour ales aged in oak, still made by the family that founded the brewery in 1900. Tours run Thursday and Saturday; entry EUR 10 includes sampling. This is worth prioritising above most museums.

The Atomium

The Atomium, built for the 1958 World’s Fair, is nine interconnected spheres representing an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times. From a distance it looks like a science-fiction molecule; inside the spheres there are 1950s retro-futurist exhibition spaces that document how people in 1958 imagined the future. It’s genuinely engaging and genuinely strange, and the view from the top sphere over Brussels is excellent. Entry EUR 18.

Where to Eat

Moules-frites is the Brussels claim to culinary significance: mussels steamed in white wine with vegetables, served with thick Belgian fries. Chez Léon on Rue des Bouchers is the institution but is firmly tourist-facing. Aux Armes de Bruxelles on the same street is more reliably good and frequented by enough Belgians to feel credible. For something less touristic: the Sainte-Catherine neighbourhood northwest of Grand Place has better fish restaurants at lower prices, anchored around the fish market that operated there historically.

Getting There

Brussels has two major train stations (Brussels Central, Brussels Midi/Zuid). The Eurostar from London to Brussels Midi takes 1 hour 50 minutes. Thalys connects Brussels to Paris in 1 hour 20 minutes, to Amsterdam in 1 hour 50 minutes. Essentially: Brussels is the most accessible major city in Europe from multiple directions by rail.