Place Royale - Koningsplein, Brussels, Belgium

Standing: Notable
Rank: Rank 2,158 of 3,690

Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor

About Place Royale - Koningsplein

Place Royale (Koningsplein in Dutch) is a neoclassical square in the Royal Quarter of Brussels. It was built between 1775 and 1782 to plans by the architects Jean-Benoît-Vincent Barré and Gilles-Barnabé Guimard, on the site of the Coudenberg Palace, which had burned down in 1731, and it formed one urban project together with Brussels Park. The square is rectangular and symmetrical, about 77 by 113 metres, and fully paved. Its façades and porticoes have been protected as heritage since 1951.

Checked 2026-11-10 · Source

What's inside

At the centre stands an equestrian statue of Godfrey of Bouillon, leader of the First Crusade, by Eugène Simonis, unveiled on 15 August 1848. The main building on the square is the neoclassical Church of St. James on Coudenberg, consecrated in 1787; on 21 July 1831 Leopold I took his oath as the first King of the Belgians on its front steps. Around the square are the BELvue Museum, the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, the Magritte Museum and the Musical Instruments Museum in the former Old England store. The remains of the Coudenberg Palace lie beneath the area and are entered through the BELvue Museum.

Checked 2026-11-10 · Source

Getting there

The square is served by Brussels-Central railway station and by two metro stations: Parc/Park on lines 1 and 5, and Trône/Troon on lines 2 and 6. Rue de Namur enters it from the south, Rue de la Régence from the south-west, and Rue Montagne de la Cour and the Mont des Arts from the north-west. Brussels Park, the Royal Palace and the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula are within walking distance.

Checked 2026-11-10 · Source