The best walks and hikes around Molenbeek-Saint-Jean - Sint-Jans-Molenbeek

The Maison du Roi houses the City Museum of Brussels with many art objects and information about the city's history.

The palace is worth a visit. It is not overcrowded and there is also space for good photos.

It's worth taking a look into the passage. In summer, it's a good place to escape the heat, as a steady wind blows through the passage.

Fun story (can’t vouch for accuracy) - the black brickwork was an intentional contrast to rest of square to scare people into paying their taxes! Love it!

In the front garden of the Egmont Palace, the small Zavelparkje where Counts Egmont & Horne and 60 statues have taken up position, is ideal visual material for a brief refresher of our national history. The beheading of Egmont and Horne was the starting signal for the Eighty Years' War (1568 -1648). The counts became the founders of the liberal nation-state, rebels who had defended freedom and tolerance against the fanatical Catholic Spanish King.

History The first "Grand théâtre de la Monnaie" was opened in 1700. In 1819, however, it was demolished and rebuilt on the current site by the French architect Louis-Emmanuel Aimé-Damesne. But in a fierce fire on January 21, 1855, the building was completely reduced to ashes; only the four outer walls remained standing. Fortunately, the Royal Opera House was rebuilt very quickly. Joseph Poelaert was responsible for the design of the new building and for the complete interior decoration. In 1856, the new Royal Opera House opened its doors. The most recent major renovation dates from 1985. At that time, the stage tower was completely rebuilt, and the building was extended with an upper volume. Source: https://www.regiedergebouwen.be/nl/projects/koninklijke-muntschouwburg

De Kleine Zavel is a true hidden gem in Brussels and a feast for lovers of history and architecture. This charming park, in Flemish neo-Renaissance style and located opposite the Church of Our Lady of the Sablon, feels like an open-air museum full of stories. Stroll past the graceful statues and discover how 48 figures bring the old Brussels guilds to life. Additionally, other sculptures honour great 16th-century thinkers like Mercator and Ortelius. Even the garden itself is full of symbolism: the carefully pruned boxwoods refer to the former Belgian provinces, with the crown as a symbol of the kingdom. At the back, another piece of history awaits with the statue of Counts Egmont and Hoorn, who lost their lives during Spanish rule. From here, the stairs lead you further to Wolstraat and to the green Egmontpark, ready for a next discovery.

Opposite the Zavel church lies the Kleine Zavel square, one of the architectural gems of Brussels city center. In this neo-Renaissance style garden, there is also a group of sculptures by the greatest Belgian artists of the nineteenth century. In the 1880s, the mayor of Brussels, Charles Buls, proposed to embellish the district and transform the square into a seductively beautiful garden, which was opened to the public in 1890. The symmetrical flowerbeds lead to a raised fountain, whose circular water basin is dominated by the sculpture of the counts of Egmont and Hoorn. Behind it, two arched staircases lead to the Egmont Palace. The plantings have a symbolic function: the nine beds with pruned boxwood that frame the lawn represent the nine provinces that Belgium counted at the time. Another flowerbed in the shape of a crown symbolizes Belgium. Around the Kleine Zavel runs a very beautiful wrought-iron fence, consisting of panels with varied motifs and columns. Source: https://gardens.brussels/nl/groene-ruimten/kleine-zavelsquare