Brussels Beyond The Grand Place: 5 Must-See Gems For History Buffs & Foodies!

Although the capital of Belgium offers much more than the famed Grand Place and the statue of Manneken Pis. If you take a few steps further from the typical tourist areas, you will find a plethora of districts and districts that are unique in their way, filled with history and amazing gastronomy for everyone interested. These are the 5 gems in Brussels for you: From luxury shopping streets flanked by art nouveau architecture to former industrial areas transformed into trendy neighborhoods, these are Brussels’ secret treasures for anyone wishing to explore beyond the Grand Place and discover the diverse layers of this global metropolis.

In the same year the Cinquantenaire was created, the Royal Military Museum in Brussels was also inaugurated.
Constructed to commemorate Belgium’s 50-year jubilee of independence in 1880, the huge Cinquantenaire arch and neighboring structures house several museums, where the military history of Belgium is depicted. History lovers will love the Royal Military Museum, an extensive military weaponry display ranging from medieval weapons, uniforms, vehicles, aircraft, and apparatus crucial in the warfare of Belgium evidenced from the Middle Ages through to World War II and even the present generation. Some of the highlights are the revolution flags of Belgium of 1830, the cavalry armor from the battle of Waterloo, firearms of the First World War, and a hut of the WW II Resistance fighters rebuilt with realistic feeling. Even the exterior of the museum is filled with recorded pieces of artillery and tanks.

Historical battles enthusiasts will be delighted after having stepped through several centuries of armed conflicts, while park and garden fans will be comfortable in the 30-hectare Parc du Cinquantenaire that resembles English gardens. Its expansive turf, twisted terraces, and decorative ponds are in stark juxtaposition to the physical might of the military spectacle adjacent. Another lovely, glass and metal building with the same sort of hall is the Arcade du Cinquantenaire, where it is worth dropping by to see the assortment of luxury antique, fashion, and chocolate stores.

The Dansaert District
Located in the city center and connecting it with the northern quarter, the Rue Antoine Dansaert and its cross-streets are home to most of the fashion and design stores in Brussels. The neighborhood still is raw with concrete structures of urban warehouses and factories that have now been adapted as shops, museums, bars, restaurants, and homes. This combination of industrial and modern, rough and posh places it very much as directly relevant to Brussels as the Meatpacking District in New York or Shoreditch in London.

Aside from shopping, however, the Dansaert District offers some wonderful peeks into the once-vital industrial heritage of Belgium. The upper end of the place known as the Brussels Centre for Fine Arts (BOZAR) has sometimes showcased art and design architecture exhibits such as recycled Art Nouveau arches and motifs. The ‘Millennium Iconoclast Museum of Art’ or MIMA on the lower end was in a former brewery and comprises street and contemporary artists.

There is something for everyone in the refueling stakes as far as the dense concentration of restaurant offerings on Dansaert Street. Children’s favorite dishes such as moules-frites can be perfectly matched with the interior design of the former industrial buildings. Belgian beers are enjoyed to the full whether slamming back La Chouffe at the packed Moeder Lambic café or sipping on a fruity Cantillon beer at a museum-cum-bar of the brewery situated just around the corner.

The Sablon Neighborhood
Overlooking the neighborhood is the beautiful Gothic Église Notre-Dame du Sablon that was built in the 15th century, Sablon is extremely classy. Its smart stone-paved blocks and clean alleys and streets with chocolate boutiques, antiques, galleries, cafes, and restaurants have always been a pleasant residential district for the representatives of the high bourgeoisie of Brussels. Imposing 18th-century grand townhouses are present including the Grand Sablon itself which surrounds the statue of Our Blessed Lady of the Sablon which dates back to the 14th century.

However, there are still a few areas of industrial heritage left in Sablon, for example, the place for the horse market, smithy works, and slaughterhouse. The church was built on the very site of the battle that took place at the end of the XIII century, in which Brussels liberated itself from the tyrant rulers—the Sablon has always been set on rebellion. But if one looks harder for more clues about the milieu being primarily working class one can find La Bécasse which specializes in rustic simple Belgian cooking inside an art nouveau building that still shows the marks of the shells that WWII shelling gave it.

This mix of Labour and Leisure remains to date with today’s antique dealers, chocolate makers, and the famous Wittamer chocolate house, patisserie, and even glass makers, leather goods makers, works of art, and avant-garde galleries such as Victor Hunt Designart Dealer, and other coffee shops like Pierre Marcolini. It is quite simple to spend an entire day strolling and sampling over the Sablon’s maze-like alleys.

Matongé Neighborhood
From Sablon, going to Louise is the center of the African district, Matongé, which is derived from a marketplace in Kinshasa. Crowded into several blocks of a few streets, Matongé provides a rather insane shopping, as in the stores and open-air stalls ranging from owners of retail premises to certain African souvenirs, clothing, carvings, cosmetics, spices and fruits, music, and various products made in African countries.

The diversity is because of the position of Matongé as the Beuleur’s immigrant reception since the Congolese, Senegalese, Malian, Cameroonian, and other Africans have settled in the area over the decades as independence was granted to Congo from Belgium in 1960. It is due to this cultural diversity to find an incredibly diverse menu offered in the various African cafés and restaurants in Matongé.Saka-saka as the side dish is common but the type of buffet varies hence from Ghanaian fufu, Nigerian egusi stews, Ivorian attiékéand Senegalese thieboudienne to Ethiopian wat, North African couscous and so on are present.

As stated earlier, Matongé is relatively small allowing for easy exploration but do be careful with your pockets and bags—pickpocketing remains a problem here.

The Mont des Arts & Royal Library of Belgium
It is located right on the top of the Mont des Arts’ majestic incline, making it an ideal geographical reference point as well as a great starting point for a historical and architectural discovery of central Brussels, but it is also a perfect place for the book lovers to sink in Medieval history and modern architecture.

The phrase ‘the Mont des Arts ‘ means ‘the Hill of Arts’ in English and it derives its name because it houses many museums at the summit near Place Royale. The main feature of the park is a hill, which has winding stairs and paths filled with observation platforms that offer views of the sprawling skyline of the Lower Town of Brussels with its numerous steeples. Among the attractions of scenic interest, there are such places, as the Palais des Beaux-Arts of the late 19th – early 20th centuries, fountains, and the remnants of archeological excavations.

The final jewel in the crown, or rather the roof – quite literally in terms of location and significance and metaphorically also from an architectural point of view is the enormous Royal Library in Black Friars opened in 1969. Its inconspicuous glass, steel, and red marble exterior by Belgian architects Pierre Lallemand and André Polak and its unpretentious, immediately post-modernist assertiveness provide a point of comparison to the neo-classical palaces and Gothic steeples surrounding it.

Less than one hundred miles away, and in the same country, more than six million books, manuscripts, journals, scores, and documents are stored in its towering bookcases. Treasures include early illuminated gospels dated from the 9th century as well as Renaissance atlases and records of Belgian Congo rubber plantations. There is no ticket to the show but bags and coats are left in the cloakroom of the restaurant and you may enjoy the atmosphere. If hunger arises having explored the centuries, the stunning, well-lit top-floor cafeteria is available with sandwiches and light snacks.

Conclusion
This is perfectly right for Brussels to base its tourist attractions on traditional attractions such as the historic old town’s central market square the Grand Place and peculiar monuments like the fountain of the peeing boy the Mannekin Pis. However, beyond this old core, alive districts like the Dansaert and the Matongé districts bring a youthful and positive contemporary spirit to the story of the history and culture of the city. Places like Cinquantenaire, or Mont des Arts are constructed on top of Brussels’ history with great museums and libraries to help remember the past. It is thus possible to almost get lost in Belgium’s rightly famous gastronomy – from the portioned mussels and fries to decadent chocolates to beers brewed in manners that seem to date back to the Middle Ages. The rich history and delicious food in Brussels entice history lovers as well as those who love food for days on end of amazing discovery.

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