In August 1695, during the Nine Years' War, French troops under Marshal de Villeroy unleashed a devastating bombardment on Brussels. The Grand-Place bore the brunt of the artillery. Over three days, incendiary balls reduced the wooden structures around the square to rubble and ash. Only the stone walls and tower of the Town Hall survived, ironically because the French used the tower as their aiming point, allowing it to stand while everything around it fell. The destruction was nearly complete. Yet within five years, the guilds of Brussels had reconstructed their houses, this time in stone rather than wood, adorned with gilded facades, Corinthian columns, and elaborate sculptural programs. The uniformity of this Baroque rebuilding, completed between 1696 and 1700, gives the square its harmonious yet exuberant appearance today.

The Grand-Place's French name means Grand Square, but the Dutch name Grote Markt translates to Big Market, revealing its commercial origins. Since at least the 11th century, this space served as the primary marketplace of Brussels, where butchers, bakers, and brewers conducted trade. The powerful guilds that dominated medieval commerce built their headquarters around its perimeter, each trying to outdo the others in architectural grandeur. The Town Hall, begun in 1402 and completed with its 96-meter spire by 1455, anchored the square's western side with Gothic magnificence. Across from it stands the King's House, rebuilt in neo-Gothic style in the 19th century, now housing the Brussels City Museum. Together these structures frame a space that was simultaneously marketplace, political center, and civic living room.

The Grand-Place remains Brussels' ceremonial heart. The biennial flower carpet, a tradition since 1971 now registered in the Brussels-Capital Region's intangible cultural heritage inventory, transforms the space each August with geometric patterns rendered in countless blooms. Winter brings the Christmas market and an enormous decorated tree, a tradition maintained since the mid-20th century. Throughout the year, the square hosts Belgian Beer Weekend, cultural festivals, and spontaneous gatherings of locals and visitors alike. The premetro station beneath connects the square to the city's transit network, funneling daily life directly into this historic space. Street performers occupy corners while diners fill terraces at the legendary brasseries that line the square. Victor Hugo, who lived briefly on the square during his exile, called it the most beautiful in Europe.

Each guildhall bears witness to the trade that built it. The House of the Bakers displays a golden bust of Saint Aubert above its doorway. The Brewers' House features a golden horse and an equestrian statue of Charles of Lorraine. The Haberdashers erected La Renommee with a statue of Fame atop its pediment. These facades tell stories in stone and gilt: allegorical figures, patron saints, and symbols of craft. The buildings measure their grandeur in vertical ornamentation: crow-stepped gables give way to volutes, broken pediments, and statuary. At night, when floodlights illuminate the gilding, the square becomes a golden theater where centuries of mercantile pride perform for anyone who pauses to look upward.