Manneken Pis

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  • Address
    cnr Rue de l'Étuve & Rue du Chêne, Ilôt Sacré
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  • Transport
    underground rail: Gare Centrale

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Lonely Planet review

A national symbol and known throughout the world, Manneken Pis - a little boy cheerfully taking a leak into a pool - never fails to disappoint visitors despite its diminutive size. It's three blocks from the Grand Place.

The present-day bronze Manneken Pis was sculpted by Jerôme Duquesnoy in 1619, but a stone version - named Little Julian - stood here from the mid-14th century. The statue's origins are lost in legend: some say he's modelled on a boy who extinguished a fire, others say he was a nobleman's son.

Whatever, the people of Brussels have adopted him as the symbol of their indomitable and irreverent spirit, and on occasion dress him up in one of his 700-odd costumes. Kitsch? Well, there's more - his little 'sister', Jeanneke Pis, squats in an alley on the north side of Grand Place, and Zinneke, a mongrel dog with cocked leg, stands in St Géry.