Travel Belgium About Brussels Upper Town Place Royale
Métro: Parc .
Composed and self-assured, the place Royale forms a fitting climax to rue Royale, the dead straight backbone of the Upper Town which runs the 2km north to the suburb of St Josse. Precisely symmetrical, the square is framed by late eighteenth-century mansions, each an exercise in architectural restraint, though there's no mistaking their size nor the probable cost of their construction.
Pushing into this understated opulence is the facade of the church of St Jacques sur Coudenberg
(Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 10-11am; free), a fanciful, 1780s version of a Roman temple with a colourfully frescoed pediment representing Our Lady as Comforter of the Depressed. Indeed, the building was so secular in appearance that the French Revolutionary army had no hesitation in renaming it a Temple of Reason.
The French also destroyed the statue of a Habsburg governor that originally occupied the middle of the square, and its replacement - a dashing equestrian representation of
Godfrey de Bouillon , one of the leaders of the first Crusade - dates from the 1840s. The statue has Godfrey, all rippling muscles and tree-trunk legs, rushing into battle in a supposedly heroic manner, but the sculptor wasn't quite up to his brief. Godfrey is supposed to be staring determinedly into the distance, but instead it looks as if he needs specs.
Once you've reached the Place Royale, the obvious option is to visit the Musées Royaux des Beaux Arts. But, if that doesn't appeal, there is a choice of walking routes: it's a short stroll south along rue de la Régence to the Sablon neighbourhood, one of the city's most engaging quarters; or you can walk round to the Palais Royal and then the fine art of the Musée Charlier
