La Bellone: The Hidden Baroque Courtyard

Why is it significant?

Pass through the unassuming doorway off Rue de Flandre and step into an astounding secret world: a historic courtyard sheltered beneath a soaring modern glass roof, dominated by the theatrical Baroque facade of La Bellone.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Pass through the unassuming doorway off Rue de Flandre and step into an astounding secret world: a historic courtyard sheltered beneath a soaring modern glass roof, dominated by the theatrical Baroque facade of La Bellone. Built in sixteen ninety-seven, this mansion was designed by celebrated Flemish sculptor and architect Jean Cosyn, one of the master builders who reconstructed the Grand-Place. The doorway opens off an ordinary residential street, giving no hint of the palatial seventeenth-century aristocratic pavilion hidden behind the street-front facades.

The mansion takes its name from the sculpted stone bust of Bellona, the Roman goddess of war, crowning the central pediment above the entrance. Cosyn designed the facade to commemorate the historic victory of the Holy Roman Empire and allied forces over the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Zenta in sixteen ninety-seven. Cosyn was a brilliant Renaissance man who combined classical humanistic education with practical stonemasonry; his work on the Grand-Place guildhalls, including the House of the King of Spain, earned him lasting fame.

Inspect the rich stone carvings adorning the windows: stone cannon barrels, Roman battle standards, laurel wreaths, and helmets mingle with delicate floral garlands, celebrating military triumph with theatrical Baroque exuberance. Beneath the goddess Bellona sits an allegorical relief of Time holding an hourglass, warning mortals of the transience of earthly power. The central courtyard was originally open to the sky, serving as an intimate urban garden where noble guests gathered for chamber music recitals and poetry readings by candlelight.

In the nineteen nineties, the City of Brussels enclosed the open courtyard beneath an innovative glass membrane designed by architect Olivier Noterman, creating a climate-controlled cultural center dedicated to the performing arts, theatre archives, and contemporary scenography while protecting Cosyn's delicate seventeenth-century stone carvings from acid rain.

Return to Rue de Flandre, walk northwest to the canal bridge at Porte de Flandre, and gaze across the waters of the historic Charleroi Canal.