Vincent
Here are some details of the statues on the roof and dome of the Roi d’Espagne café in the Grand Place of Brussels. Location is hard to miss since it’s right in the historical center of the city. Being originally an old bakers guild built by architect and sculptor Jean Cosyns each of the six statues on the roof symbolize one of the six needed items to make bread which are in order left to right: Strength, wheat, wind, fire, water and foresight.
The statue on top of the dome is a gilded weather vane representing Fame
The Spike and Suzy mural (known from it’s original Flemish version as Suske en Wiske or Bob et Bobette in French) can be found at the corner of rue du Canal and rue de Laeken. This comic strip created by Willy Vandersteen (1913-1990) became popular just after World War II when it started to be published in the newspaper De Nieuwe Standaard. After the death of the author in 1990 two of his assistants Marc Verhaegen and Paul Geerts have since succeeded to him are continuing his work. There are to date more than 299 albums published.
More about Spike and Suzy at : http://suskeenwiske.ophetwww.net/enghome.html
The Schaarbeek train station is a splendid work of architecture that was built in a Flemish Neo-Renaissance style between 1864 and 1913. Once an important international railway station it now serves but a few small regional routes and gives basic service for commuters during peak hours for getting in and out of Brussels. The access to the main building itself is closed daily at 13:30 and during the week-end. The interior would definitely need some work. Located at 5 Place Princesse Elisabeth, 1030 Brussels
The front of the Shaarbeek train station
View from behind the station where the train tracks are
Commuters running late trying to still catch that train
Close up on the back of the railway station building
Most Belgian trains just pass by without coming to a halt
The prestigious Maison de la Bellone or “la maison de derrière” as they used call it in Brussels (translated into the “house at the back”) cannot be seen from the street. It can be found in a inner courtyard located at 46 rue de Flandre where it’s protected from the elements under a glass roofing. The facade of this beautiful patrician residence dates from the end of the 17th Century and is thought to have been the work of architect-sculptor Jean Cosyn. In the center above the arch over the front door is a statue of Bellona, the goddess of war. In the background, a trophy commemorates the Austrian victory over the Turks at Zenta in 1697. The window ledges are decorated with four medallions representing Roman emperors. The Maison du Spectacle now houses an information and documentation center about theater, and a library devoted to dramatic arts.
House of Bellona
In 1995 the glass roof was added for protection by architect Olivier Noterman
A statue of Bellona the goddess of war sits above the main door