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Brussels' oldest and most noteworthy citizen is obviously the legendary Mannekenpis. The ever increasing crowd of tourists who daily visit the corner of the Rue de l’Etuve and the Rue du Chène underlines the growing popularity of the "Iittle fellow" as the rogue is often called by shy Japanese girls. Nothing is known about his origins. The sculptor Jeremy Duquesnoy was commissioned in 1619 by the city council to make a statue to decorate the source called the "Juliaenkensborre". This marked the birth of Mannekenpis and the stories about him would never stop increasing. He has already had many adventures. He has been torn off his pedestal and stolen, but the thieves have always been firmly dealt with. He has received, because of his reputation, many native and foreign decorations. He received his first official costume in 1698 from Maximilian of Bavaria and from that moment onwards his ward robe contained about six-hundred and fifty different suits which vary from military uniform to all sorts of sports clothes. He wears his marquis' outfit each year at the opening of the Brussels' Fair and he puts on a soldier's uniform for July 21st. To celebrate the liberation by the allies he wears the dress uniform of the Welsh Guards on September 3 and on the next day the battle-dress of the Piron brigade. He has been photographed more often than anyone else in Brussels.
The famous Amigo hotel is located a few 100 meters from the Manneken Pis. It a has a five star status and offers 155 superior/deluxe and executive rooms in addition to 18 suites and the royal suite.
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The Stock Exchange in the Boulevard Anspach was built between 1871 and 1873 in neo-baroque style to plans by Leon Suys. Six heavy Corinthian columns support the entablature which bears a triangular pediment containing Jacquet's bas-relief of Belgium, with its Industry and Marine.
The Rue Neuve is one of the busiest streets in the Brussels lower town. It runs parallel to the Brouckère place and Avenue Adolf Max, leading at one end to the Place de la Monnaie (Place de la Monnaie) and at the other the Place Rogier, which is dominated by the skyscrapers of the Sheraton Hotel and the Rogier Centre. This Centre contains almost throughout the year various exhibitions and trade fairs, as well as two theatres of which one is the "Théâtre National".
"City 2", a luxuriously built covered shopping centre containing not only ultra modern boutiques but food shops and department stores can be reached via the Rue Neuve and Place Rogier.
Set in a grand 19th century building, the Hotel Metropole is a three minutes walk from the fashionable Brussels shopping area of Rue Neuve and ten minutes from the breathtaking Grand Place.
The Théâtre de la Monnaie on the Place de la Monnaie was opened by the production of "La Caravane du Caire" by Grétry on May 25, 1819. The revolution of 1830, which led to Belgian independence, broke out after a performance of Auber's "La Muette de Portici". The same theatre became world famous with the creation of Maurice Béjart's "Twentieth Century Ballet" and in recent years its director Gerard Mortier has infused new life into opera there. The Place de la Monnaie, which is a pedestrian precinct, forms a successful entertainment centre with Music Festivals in the summer. There has long been discussion about the restoration of the remarkable buildings round the Place des Martyres. In the meantime it shelters the war memorial to the dead of 1830. The Royal Flemish Theatre, in the Rue de Laeken, is remarkable in style: a mixture of Flemish renaissance, Brabant late renaissance and... Indian temple architecture. The original building dates from 1887. It was seriously damaged by fire in 1955, and subsequently restored and renewed inside.
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