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Manneken pis
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up for every special occasion. Whether it’s the national holiday of a faraway country or a local folklore festival, Manneken Pis always wears a fitting ensemble. His outfit schedule can be found at the gate in front of the statue. In total, Manneken Pis has more than 1,000 outfits, 133 of which you can discover at Garderobe MannekenPis, a museum just around the corner.
What we dislike about Manneken Pis
As fun as watching the disappointed grins on the faces of tourists can be, the disappointment of arriving at Manneken Pis yourself is sobering to say the least. With its 58 centimetres, there is not much to look at; you might have seen enough of it after just a few seconds. Another disadvantage of the spot is that it is often packed with tourists. Brussels usually isn’t a very touristy city, but at the corner of Manneken Pis, there are always picture-taking visitors aplenty. This fact is even more surprising, and indeed sobering, if you know that it isn’t even the real Manneken Pis you are staring it. Over the years, the statue has been stolen many times, sometimes by students just for a few hours, and other times by burglars and political enemies. In 1965, it was decided that the original would be replaced by a replica, and the number of thefts has diminished ever since. To see the original statue, visit Maison du Roi. Here, you can still spot the original little guy.
On the corner of Rue de l’Etuve and Rue du Chêne (Bourse, trams 3, 4 and 32).
What to do instead?
What many tourists don’t realise is that Brussels is the home of an entire Pis dynasty. Besides Manneken Pis, you can also visit his girlfriend, Jeanneke Pis, and his loyal canine Zinneke. The former is a fountain as well and hidden in the heart of Ilôt Sacrée (see page 68). The latter can be spotted near Saint Gery, at the crossing of Rue du Vieux Marché aux Grains and Rue des Chartreux. Zinneke isn’t a fountain, but simply a bronze statue of a dog peeing against a traffic bollard. Rumour has it that it embodies the Bruxellois’ ‘I don’t care’ attitude.
