Charles Buls Fountain, Fountain in Îlot Sacré, Brussels, Belgium

The Charles Buls Fountain is a bronze sculpture by Henri Lenaerts, inaugurated in 1987 on the triangular square at the end of Rue du Marché aux Herbes. Charles Buls sits on the stone bench that rings the basin, an open book pressed to his chest, while one dog sits on his lap and another stands beside his leg. Bronze bas-reliefs inside the basin show the Grand-Place, the Halle Gate, and scenes from his travels in Italy and Greece.

The fountain was built between 1981 and 1987 by sculptor Henri Lenaerts (1923–2006) of Molenbeek and inaugurated in 1987 for the 150th anniversary of Charles Buls's birth. Buls was mayor of Brussels from 1881 to 1899 and defended the medieval centre against Leopold II's rebuilding plans, saving the Grand-Place and the Halle Gate. In 2019 the basin was too cracked to run and awaits restoration.

The bronze reliefs at the fountain's centre show the Grand-Place and the Halle Gate, both saved and restored under Buls's mayoralty, alongside scenes from his youthful study trips to Rome, Florence, Pompeii and Athens. The dog biting his coat sleeve likely alludes to his policy against the stray dogs that infested late 19th-century Brussels.

The fountain stands at the centre of the small triangular square where Rue du Marché aux Herbes meets Rue de la Montagne, a few minutes on foot from Brussels-Central station and the Grand-Place. Behind the seated figure are the Brussels Comics Museum and the entrance to the Horta Gallery. In 2019 the basin was too cracked for the water to be switched on, and a thorough restoration was planned as part of the square's redevelopment.

The dog biting Buls's coat sleeve is thought to refer to his campaign against the stray dogs that overran Brussels in the late 19th century. The bronze reliefs inside the basin show the Grand-Place and the Halle Gate, both saved under his mayoralty, alongside scenes of Rome, Florence, Pompeii and Athens from his youthful study travels.