Bourse de Bruxelles
Start in front of the Bourse, the former stock exchange on Boulevard Anspach that gives the Place de la Bourse its name. Take in the façade: architect Léon-Pierre Suys mixed neo-Renaissance and Second Empire borrowings into one eclectic palace of money, begun in 1868 and finished in 1873. Admiring it from outside costs nothing, and it sets the tone for a city that likes its buildings grand and a little theatrical.
The story starts with a river. The Senne used to flow through this part of town, and between 1867 and 1871 Brussels covered it over, for reasons of health as much as looks. A huge programme to beautify the centre followed. Suys proposed a series of grand boulevards on top of the buried river, with a new stock exchange as the heart of a fast-growing business district, and after several petitions the municipal council backed him.
The exchange itself was older than its building. Napoleon created it by decree in 1801, and it moved through a string of cramped, unsanitary premises until merchants, riding Belgium's industrial boom from 1858 on, demanded something better. The palace went up on the site of the old Butter Market, which in turn had been built over a Franciscan convent; its remains have since been unearthed.
Since 2023 the upper floors have housed the Belgian Beer World museum, so the old temple of trading now tells the story of Belgian beer. If that tempts you, ask at the entrance about tickets and times. From here it is 400 metres, about 5 minutes, to the Grand-Place.






















