Bruegel - Marolles District

Coeur historique du commerce bruxellois, le quartier de la rue Haute et de la rue Blaes rassemble près de 300 commerces dont la plupart sont également...

Something is always happening in this old district which is permanently on the go. In less than a minute, a panoramic lift will take you from Rue Haute to Place Poelaert and its 500-place car park. Inaugurated in June 2002, it is used by thousands, with daily peaks of 10,000 round trips. It's certainly the busiest "public transport" in Brussels. It's worth noting in this respect that certain shopkeepers offer their customers an hour of free parking.

Jumble and Antiques

A natural extension of the Sablon, Rue Haute and Rue Blaes, the area today is a paradise for bric-a-brac and antiques, near Place du Jeu de Balle where each day from dawn until early afternoon the "Vieux Marché" (Old Market) takes place. It is the only official open-air daily antiques market in Belgium. From 7am to 2pm during the week and until 3pm during the weekend. A little tour of the flea market is always an opportunity for having glass of something, a coffee or... some soup in one of the many pubs on the square or in the neighbourhood. Sunday is the day when the most discoveries are made, and also when the largest number of people stroll around the district and visit the shops.

New Furniture and Decoration

The district is also famous for new furniture. Made in Belgium or imported from the four corners of Europe or elsewhere; rustic, traditional or contemporary, furniture and armchairs compete with pieces of Asian or African origin. Meublia, Big Nose, New-Dewolf Plus and Maison et Objets sit cheek by jowel with Au Bon Repos, constituting, with others, the country's largest specialist furniture centre. The master cabinetmaker Deschuytere will make bespoke pieces of period or modern furniture for you on the basis of your drawings. By Art Sop 73, you'll find a picture or lettering made to measure, Design Outletstore, showing brand products at unbelievable prices.

The shops also offer a complete panel of everything to do with fabrics and curtains, as at Au Coin Vert or L'Espérance. If you're looking for originality in the development of the exposure as in Atchoum or Bombay Beijing. You can enter without obligation. You should never hesitate to visit: the shopkeepers love it, even if they don't say so. Art galleries and exhibition venues such as Galerie St Jacques, the gallery La Girafe, Museum des Arts et Marges and the Museum of Porte de Hal have also sprung up in the district.. The Bruegel Cultural Center offers exhibits and theater. During the summer months, galleries and museums welcome you into the early evening last Thursday.

Clothing

Ready-to-wear or bespoke, from classy costumes to stylish evening gowns, via the leatherware at S en Ciel and the shoes at Prado or Georges Marcel, a score of shops will welcome you to ensure your elegance.

Gastronomy and Good Living

Many traditional Brussels or French restaurants are peppered throughout the district, such as Picinic, L'Arrosoir, Les Trois Chicons, 'T Warm Water or La Cantine. They offer an opulence of natural produce which, by their specialities and the quality of their dishes, will truly delight you. The first Spanish restaurants of Brussels, such as La Villa Rosa or El Fontan, are have also set up shop in Rue Haute. They have been joined by others, Italian such as Easy Tempo or Casa del Popolo, Chinese such as Plaisir d'Orient, Portuguese, Greek, and so on and so forth. A huge choice of establishments, each more welcoming than the next like La Crêperie! You can also have a drink at L'Atelier des Arts or take away or enjoy the specialities in situ in the Traiteur Poissonnerie Dangel. The specialist shops: in lamps and electrical equipment at ADG, in white goods at Collin, in tools at Huyghe, the hardware store / ironmongers such as Quinca, or the local bakers, butchers and greengrocers, the sweetshops, the Lavoir de la Chapelle , and so on. Remember that most of them are open on Sundays.