Travel Belgium About Brussels Sablon Neighbourhood Norte Dame Du Sablon And The Place DuGrand Sablon
Opposite the foot of Parc de Bruxelles, the fifteenth-century church of Notre Dame du Sablon (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 1pm-5pm; free) began life as a chapel for the guild of archers in 1304. Its fortunes were, however, transformed when a statue of Mary, with healing powers, was brought here from Antwerp in 1348. The chapel became a centre of pilgrimage and a proper church - in high Gothic style - was built to accommodate its visitors. It's a handsome, honey-colour structure, though it did endure some inappropriate tinkering at the end of the nineteenth century, with arching buttresses, slender parapets, screeching gargoyles and delicate pinnacles, and it has greatly benefited from its recent refurbishment. The interior no longer holds the statue of Mary - the Protestants chopped it up in 1565 - but two carvings of the boat and its passengers recall the story, one in the nave, the other above the inside of the rue de la Régence entrance. The woman in the boat is one Béatrice Sodkens, the pious creature whose visions prompted her to procure the statue and bring it here. The occasion of its arrival in Brussels is still celebrated annually in July by the
Ommegang procession.
The church's nave is dark and gloomy, making it hard to pick out the Gothic detail, but there's no missing the lofty vaulted ceiling or the fancily carved stone tracery of the windows. Look out also for the grotesque tombstone of Claude and Jacqueline Bouton, members of Charles V's entourage, which, resting against the wall near the main entrance, displays two graphically realistic skeletons. More conspicuous is the black and white marble funerary chapel in the transept - a Baroque mausoleum for the earthly remains of the Tour and Taxis family, local worthies who founded the Belgian postal system.
Behind the church, the place du Grand Sablon is one of Brussels' most charming squares, a sloping wedge of cobblestones flanked by tall and slender town houses plus the occasional Art Nouveau facade. The square serves as the centre of one of the city's wealthiest districts, and is busiest at weekends, when an
antiques market clusters below the church. Many of the shops on Sablon and the surrounding streets are devoted to antiques and art, and you could easily spend an hour or so window-browsing from one to another - or you can soak up the atmosphere eating or drinking in one of Sablon's cafés. The Musée Postal et Musée des Télécommunications (Tues-Sat 10am-4.30pm; free), at no. 40, holds a complete collection of Belgian stamps and oodles of old telecommunications equipment, though it is currently being revamped.
