Guilds of Brussels

The guild houses, in Brussels

The guild houses line the Grand-Place of Brussels with their richly adorned baroque façades. The Brussels audio-guided tour stops here to evoke these emblematic houses, witnesses of the power of the trades of the past.

The gilded houses of the trades

The guild houses that line the Grand-Place have much more to offer than their pretty decorated façades. Each one once belonged to a guild, that is to say an association of a trade: the bakers, the brewers, the boatmen, the tailors or even the painters. Rebuilt in stone at the end of the seventeenth century after the bombardment of the town, they rival in richness with their baroque gables, their sculptures, their statues and their dazzling gilding. Each façade bears the symbols and the emblems of its trade. Together, these houses tell the prosperity and the pride of the guilds that made the wealth of Brussels.

What to see

You admire the sumptuous baroque façades of the guild houses, their gables, sculptures, statues and dazzling gilding, each bearing the symbols of its trade, around the Grand-Place. These houses tell the prosperity of the guilds of Brussels. It is a must-see stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The guild houses line the Grand-Place, in the heart of Brussels, reachable on foot. You admire their façades from the square, a public space freely accessible; some shelter cafés or shops with their own hours. You discover them during a walk on the Grand-Place.

What were the guild houses of the Grand-Place?

The houses of the guilds, associations of trades like the bakers or the brewers; rebuilt in stone at the end of the seventeenth century, their gilded baroque façades bear the symbols of each trade.

Where are the guild houses?

Around the Grand-Place, in the heart of Brussels, in Belgium.