Brussels, Belgium – Mannekin Pis and the Legend of the Boy who Peed
By the messy optimist
The Breathtaking Grand Place
While Brussels has one of the best market squares – or The Grand Place as it’s called, for many of us visitors the scene that held our collective attention was at the Manneken Pis – or the boy who peed.
But let me back up real quick. The Grand Place is a UNESCO world heritage site and an architectural marvel of the kind that I’ve rarely seen so far in my travels.
I’ve seen a similar one at Prague but the one in Brussels is beyond incredible.
The four sides are breathtaking. From the silver and golden colors of the ornately constructed guildhalls to the city’s townhall and the Brussels city museum – it’s like, every side you look there’s something more breathtaking than the previous side. I swear – I spent so much time just worrying that I would miss out on something beautiful if I didn’t pay attention. Every side of the square you look – the architecture, the colors, the designs, and the painstaking work that’s gone into the buildings are evident.
The Grand Place, Brussels, Belgium
Brussels is also home to some amazing chocolate. Of course, chocolate snobs and connoisseurs (especially a few that I traveled with) would argue that it’s no patch on Swiss chocolates but they do OK.
Brussels also has some mouth-watering waffles.
It’s also home to some other equally compelling things.
Mannekin Pis – The Boy Who Peed
But, for many of us visitors to Brussels, the scene that had our collective attention was at the Manneken Pis. It’s the site of a small fountain that you would otherwise miss if you didn’t see the hordes and hordes of crowds in front of it at all times. I could NOT get a single picture of the fountain without being jostled from all sides by so many visitors there (as you can see from my pictures here).
So – the fountain is actually a miniature sculpture of a little boy who pees into a fountain. There are many legends attached to the story of this little boy who pees. One says that this little boy peed on enemy troops while another suggests that the little boy peed to put out a fire. Then there’s the most intriguing one which says that the little boy peed on the walls of a witch and was cursed into stone by said witch.
All these legends behind a statue of a boy peeing and it’s a mere 50 cms high and was created in 1388. It stands as proudly and as profoundly as is possible and is located at the Old Town in Brussels, a mere few feet away from the Grand Place.
So even as Brussels has the Grand Place and Chocolate and Waffles – it’s this little boy peeing that held most people’s attention that day – including mine!
As much as the significance of the multiple stories behind the statue is important, I’m sorry, to me, it was just SO CUTE! What was even cuter was when I looked around and some kiddos (boys obviously) who were fascinated by the statue and wondered, perhaps, just maybe (?), if they should imitate the boy up on the fountain? I actually saw one little boy try to do just that and an embarrassed mother shushing him and making him understand why he shouldn’t.
I tried so hard to get a picture but then was ashamed of myself for being such a voyeur.
But the image is scorched in my memory! I’ll never forget that image. And I will never forget the beautiful city of Brussels.
For other activities in Brussels – check out the following:
https://www.planetware.com/tourist-attractions-/brussels-b-br-bbb.htm
