Maison du Roi d'Espagne, Protected heritage apartment building at Grand Place, Brussels, Belgium
Maison du Roi d'Espagne is a protected guild house on the Grand Place in Brussels, with a baroque facade topped by a balustrade and a dome. Six allegorical statues representing force, wheat, wind, fire, water, and security are placed on the upper floors above the arched entrance.
The building was erected in 1699 as the headquarters of the baker's guild and takes its name from a bust of Charles II of Spain, who then ruled the southern Netherlands. It was later restored in the 19th century and converted into a residential and commercial building while keeping its baroque facade.
The facade features a bust of Saint Aubert, patron of bakers, recalling the building's original role as a baker's guild hall. Today the upper floors are private apartments, while the ground floor hosts commercial activity facing the square.
The building sits on the western side of Grand Place and is easy to reach on foot from the city center. The full facade is best seen from the middle of the square, where you can take in the upper floors and the statues at once.
The building is one of the few on Grand Place that still functions partly as a residential building, while most of its neighbors have been turned into museums or offices. The bust of Charles II that gave the building its name is no longer on the building itself.
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