Place du Petit Sablon



Sam and I really liked this little square. We ran across it on our first day while trying to stave off jet lag. Christian helped us fill in the blanks when he led the group here during our morning historical walk.

Place du Petit Sablon is a charming and quiet little park surrounded by 48 small statues standing atop the wrought-iron fence. That's what first catches your attention. They represent the craftsman guilds--weavers, brewers, and butchers--of 16th century Brussels.



The ten large statues inside the park represent hometown thinkers of the 16th century, a time of great intellectual accomplishments in the city. The one holding a globe is Gerardus Mercator (1512-1594), the Belgium mapmaker who devised a way to more accurately show the spherical Earth on a flat surface.

The garden's central fountain, an example of 19th century Romanticism, honors two locals who were executed because they promoted tolerance during the Inquisition. Good friends, one Catholic and the other Protestant, they were beheaded on the Grand Place in 1568 for their actions.