Brussels
Brussels is home to the European Union and NATO, amongst many other institutions, but beyond their facelessness, the city’s architecture is a smorgasbord, with the gothic Grand Place the undoubted highlight. Other key sights in Brussels include St Michael and St Gudule’s Cathedral and the Mont des Arts park, which links the upper and lower parts of the city. Then there is the elegant Place Royale, built between 1774 and 1780 in the style of Louis XVI, the Museum of Ancient Art and the Museum of Modern Art. The Manneken-Pis, and his less heralded sister the Janneken Pis, are statues that hint at the exuberance and irreverence of the ‘Bruxellois’, a spirit that reaches its zenith in the city’s numerous bars which, along with the 1000 types of Belgian beer, are not to be missed. Among other areas worth exploring are the Îlot Sacré, the picturesque area of narrow streets to the northeast of the Grand-Place; the fashionable boulevard de Waterloo; the administrative quarter, a completely symmetrical park area commanding a splendid view of the surrounding streets; the Grand Sablon, the area containing both the flamboyant Gothic structure of the Church of Our Lady of Sablon and the Sunday antique market and, lastly, the Petit Sablon, a square surrounded by Gothic columns, which support 48 small bronze statues commemorating medieval Brussels guilds. A more modern attraction is the bizarre Atomium, a futuristic, atom-shaped aluminium tower built for the 1958 World Fair. One important out-of-town attraction is the Battle of Waterloo site, 18km (11 miles) to the south of Brussels, commemorating the battle that shaped the future of both Belgium and modern Europe, of which Brussels is now such a crucial hub. The Brussels Card now gives the visitor free access to 30-plus museums and also the use of public transport throughout the Brussels-Capital region, within a 72-hour period. This ‘culture pass’ is available at all participating museums - at the six sales offices of the Brussels Public Transport Company (STIB), at certain hotels and at the Brussels International Tourism Office (see Contact Addresses section), costing just ¬30.
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