Rue Haute & Maison de Bruegel: The Ancient Roman Road

Why is it significant?

Walk along the lively cobblestones of Rue Haute and pause before the weathered stepped-gable townhouse at number one hundred and thirty-two.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Walk along the lively cobblestones of Rue Haute and pause before the weathered stepped-gable townhouse at number one hundred and thirty-two. According to longstanding local tradition, this picturesque sixteenth-century residence was the home and studio of master painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder, who lived on this bustling street during the final productive years of his life until his death in fifteen sixty-nine. Look closely at the stepped gable and stone mullions of number one hundred and thirty-two, whose architectural details preserve the authentic character of a prosperous sixteenth-century Flemish burgher house.

Rue Haute, or Hoogstraat, is literally the oldest highway in Brussels. It follows the ridgeline of an ancient Roman road that connected Bavay, the administrative capital of Roman Gaul, directly to Cologne on the Rhine. Because it stayed high on the dry sandbank above the marshy Senne River valley, it became the natural corridor along which medieval Brussels first expanded southward. The street was historically lined with traditional craft workshops, including coopers, dyers, blacksmiths, and lace-makers, whose lively banter and street cries provided the soundtrack to Bruegel's daily life.

Living on Rue Haute placed Bruegel directly in the center of the earthy, vibrant popular culture he immortalized. He reportedly disguised himself in peasant clothing to attend rustic village weddings, harvest celebrations, and tavern revels in nearby Brabant villages, sketching drunken bagpipers, brawling peasants, and joyful dancers with unsparing realism and deep humanity.

Today, Rue Haute remains the bohemian soul of Brussels. It is packed with quirky vintage boutiques, secondhand bookshops, antique furniture restorers, and traditional sandwich shops serving crusty baguettes stuffed with bloempanch blood sausage and pungent Brussels soft cheeses. At the northern end of Rue Haute stands the ancient Church of the Chapelle, where Bruegel lies buried, completing the physical circle between where the master lived, where he observed humanity, and where he rests.

Continue northeast along Rue Haute, turn right onto Rue Joseph Stevens, and climb toward the manicured elegance and chocolate boutiques of the Grand Sablon.