The Town Hall in Leuven

On our way up to Amsterdam last year we spent a couple of days with Lisa and Simon in Tervuren, near Brussels. The nearest town to them (that isn't Brussels) is Leuven, and Lisa offered to show us around.

The Town Hall of Leuven in Belgium is on the city's Grote Markt. Built in a Brabantine late-Gothic style between 1439 and 1469, it is famous for its ornate architecture, which from a distance looks like lace. The building known as the Leuven Town Hall was the Voirste Huys (front house) of a larger complex of municipal buildings. Construction of the complex started in 1439 on the site of the existing Town Hall. 

The first stone of the Voirste Huys was laid in 1448. The initial plans, influenced by Brussels' Town Hall included a belfry tower at one of the corners. This design was modified to a symmetrical arrangement of turrets. The exterior masonry and roof were finished in 1460. In the 19th century the Town Hall was renovated. It survived the devastation of Leuven during World War I, escaping with only minor damage. In World War II, a bomb strike in front of the building added to the damage. It wasn't until 1983 that repairs were completed.

Statues in canopied niches are distributed all over the building. The corbels supporting the statues are carved with Biblical scenes in high relief. The niches and corbels are part of the original plan, but the 236 statues are relatively recent, dating from after 1850. The statues on the first floor represent people of importance in the city's history, those of the second arepatron saints and symbolic figures, and those of the third are the Counts of Leuven and Dukes of Brabant from various ages.

Even on a cold March afternoon it's an impressive sight. A little sunshine would have been welcome.