If Brussels is famous for its mussels, frites, beers and waffles - then Rue des Bouchers is where tourists come to feast upon them.
Rue des Bouchers is the main pedestrian street in the precinct known as Ilot Sacre (Sacred Island) and is a popular tourist destination. This pretty cobbled street, dating back to 1294, maintains its medieval name Rue des Butchers (The Butchers Street), even though you will no longer find butcher's shops along here, but instead rows of restaurants - the locals refer to the street as the "Belly of Brussels."
Whether you choose to eat here or not, this charming street is worth a stroll anytime from early afternoon to late evening to experience its displays of seafood packed with ice, and the buzz from the hundreds of diners.
Since 1960 the city authorities have forbidden the facades of the buildings from being altered, and as a result many houses here still have their 17th century crow-stepped gables and decorated doorways.
Close to this street, on Impasse de la Fidélité, is a small fountain called Jeanneke Pis - erected in 1987. This statue of a cheeky little girl is the female equivalent of Manneken Pis.
Rue des Bouchers and its surrounding area is called 'Ilot Sacre' because this literally used to be an island in the middle of the river Senne. It was called the 'Sacred Island' because Saint Gaugericus built a chapel here in the 6th century, and in the 9th century the chapel housed the relics of the city's beloved St Gudula - the female patron saint of Brussels. Her relics are now enshrined in St Michael's Cathedral. The island disappeared in the 19th century when the polluted Senne was covered over because it had become a health hazard.
Address
Rue des Bouchers
Brussels, 1000
(very close to Grand Place)
How to Get There
Metro: Bourse
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