The expertise of CReA-Patrimoine was called upon to study the Gothic masonry of the Brussels Town Hall. This operation is part of a series of projects to study the building in order to gain a better knowledge of ancient structures unaffected by the restorations of the 19th and 20th centuries.
This study uncovered archaeogical vestiges that probably predate the 15th century building. If the major stages of construction of this monumental building were indeed established by Brussels historians of the 19th and 20th centuries, this investigation made it possible to refute certain hypotheses on the development of this alderman's house, particularly from an old 14th century belfry. It also proves that the Town Hall was not conceived as a single architectural programme, but is the result of successive contributions during the 15th century, adaptation or sometimes major changes, of old buildings integrated into each new project.
Publications
SOSNOWSKA P, BYL S., HUYVAERT F. et DOPERE F., L’hôtel de ville de Bruxelles. Apport de l’archéologie à la compréhension d’une édifice majeur au travers d’une étude des maçonneries gothiques, Studia Bruxellae, 2018/1 (N°12), pp.43 -75.
Fig. 1. View of the Town Hall from the Grand-Place.
Fig. 2. Archaeological survey of the northern wall of the western wing.
Fig. 3. Sharp-arched window in the classical western wing, dated 1444.