Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
see an impressive exhibit on Belgian history and the royal family in
the adjacent BELvue Museum (see page 418).
• Return to Place Royale, then continue south along Rue de la Régence,
noticing the entrance to the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (see
tour on page 418). Just past the museums, on the right, you'll see a...
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Sculpture Garden (Jardin de Sculpture)
This pleasant public garden—starring a statue by Rodin's contem-
porary, Aristide Maillol—looks like a great way to descend into
the Sablon Quarter, but the gates at the bottom are often locked.
•
A hundred yards farther along, you reach the top of the Sablon neigh-
borhood, dominated by the...
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Notre-Dame du Sablon Church
The round, rose, stained-glass windows in the clerestory of this
14th-century Flamboyant Gothic church are nice by day, but are
thrilling at night, when the church is
lit from inside. It glows like a lantern,
enjoyed by locals at the cafés in the
surrounding square.
Step inside. The glorious apse
behind the altar—bathed in stained-
glass light—is what Gothic is all
about. Next to the altar, see a small
wooden
statue of Mary
dressed in
white with a lace veil. This is a copy,
made after iconoclastic Protestant vandals destroyed the original.
The original statue was thought to have had miraculous powers
that saved the town from plagues. In 1348, when the statue was in
Antwerp, it spoke to a godly woman named Beatrix, prompting
her to board a boat (see the small
wooden boat,
high above the
entry door) and steal the statue away from Antwerp. When they
tried to stop her, the Mary statue froze the Antwerp citizens in
their tracks.
Beatrix and the statue arrived
here, the Bruxelloise welcomed her
with a joyous parade, and this large
church was erected in her honor.
Every summer, in Brussels' famous
Ommegang, locals in tights and
flamboyant costumes re-create the
joyous arrival. With colorful ban-
ners and large puppets, they carry
Mary from here through the city
streets to the climax on the Grand
Place.
