Belgium

The Grand' Place has always been the magnificent centrepiece of the city and one of the most beautiful... squares in Europe. It has been officially named a world cultural heritage site by UNESCO. No gable is the same as the next, each façade is adorned with golden figures and ornaments, railings and festoons everywhere you look. There are Roman emperors and trumpeting angels, pillars, columns and relief. It would take an entire day just to take in all the monumental buildings. And yet the Grand' Place appears remarkably harmonious; a closed, unique architectural ensemble. So it's somewhat surprising to learn that all but one of the baroque guild houses were destroyed in an attack by French troops in August 1695. Today, the square has long been home to the hustle and bustle of the Grote Markt, and every two years the golden façades are forced to vie for visitors' attention when the whole square is blanketed with a massive carpet of flowers made up of thousands of blossoms. more

The royal residence at the southern end of the Parc de Bruxelles is one of the most beautiful and important... buildings in the Quartier Royal - at least today, for it originally had more modest dimensions. After the first residence burnt down in 1731, two smaller state palaces were joined in the middle (the difference between the two can still clearly be distinguished today). However, this building was too modest for King Leopold II, so in 1904 he had it lavishly converted into a magnificent Louis XVI-style palace using money from the Belgian colonies. The palace now incorporates impressive columned gables and opulently decorated state rooms, which can be visited whenever the king is not in residence (normally between mid-July and the end of September). However, the Hotel Bellevue in the North Wing is open all year round. Here, you can visit grand rooms with historic furnishings and learn more about the history of the Belgian monarchy in the BELvue Museum (http://www.belvue.b). more

If the efforts of the European Parliament are transparent to everyone, is anyone's guess, if not, the... building with its tall dome is not to blame: it is almost made entirely out of glass. The oval layout, that resembles a Camembert box and the corruption scandal during the building of the facility gave it its nickname “Caprice des Dieux”. The flock of flagpoles in front of the building are less meaningful than they appear to be, because the 736 European parliamentarians from 27 member states only come to Brussels for special meetings, the majority of the business is taken care of in Strasbourg. Nonetheless, angry protestors still come to Brussels very often, because of the European Commission, which has its building just a couple of blocks away, home to mighty bureaucrat forts with hundreds of offices, conference rooms, translator cabins and miles of aisles. more