King’s House

Maison du Roi

The neo-Gothic house facing the town hall, home of the city museum and Manneken Pis’ wardrobe.

Photo: Celuici, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

It never housed a king: the Breadhouse of the Middle Ages took the name when it passed to the dukes of Brabant, who also ruled Spain. The building you see was rebuilt in neo-Gothic style at the end of the 19th century.

Today it is the Brussels City Museum, with the original Manneken Pis and a part of his wardrobe of costumes. Visit it in 3D ›

More in Brussels

Grand-PlaceGuild houses and a Gothic town hall round one of the most beautiful squares in Europe.

Town HallThe Gothic town hall with its 96-metre tower, topped by Saint Michael slaying the dragon.

Manneken PisA bronze boy barely half a metre tall, with a wardrobe of more than a thousand costumes.

Galeries Royales Saint-HubertOne of the first covered shopping arcades in Europe, opened in 1847 under a glass roof.

BourseThe old stock exchange of 1873, on a boulevard that has been free of cars since 2015.

Cathedral of St Michael and St GudulaBrussels’ Gothic cathedral on the slope towards the upper town, where royal weddings are held.

Mont des ArtsThe garden steps between the lower and the upper town, with a view over the city.

SablonThe square of antique dealers and chocolatiers, below the Gothic church of Notre-Dame du Sablon.

FriesThick fries fried twice in beef fat, served in a paper cone with mayonnaise.

ChocolateThe praline was invented in Brussels, in the Galeries Saint-Hubert, in 1912.

Comic-strip wallsTintin, the Smurfs and Lucky Luke painted on the gable walls of the old town.