How to visit Gothic Town Hall of Leuven (Belgium): schedules

When planning my most recent trip to Flanders, riding a Belgium, the possibility arose of visit Leuven, the small university town located very close to Brussels, I was clear about what the main attraction was going to be: seeing its famous gothic town hall.

Then the Leuven visit gave me other interesting surprises, such as the building of the University Library and, above all, its charming Great Beguinage, a true walk through medieval settings.

As you can imagine, as soon as I arrived by direct train to Leuven from Brussels airport, just 20 minutes away, the first thing I did was go to the Plaza Mayor de la ciudad.

I will tell you that the Leuven main square It does not have the enormous dimensions of the main squares of other Belgian cities such as Brussels o Antwerp, and not even like that of Witches.

Precisely because of its dimensions, the building that will catch your attention above all is that of the St. Peter's Church, located right in front of the town hall.

Curiosities history gothic town hall Leuven

El Leuven town hall Construction began in 1439.

The University of Louvain and that the aforementioned had been built St. Peter's Church.

On the esplanade in front of it, previously occupied by a cemetery, it was decided to build the new town hall following the path started in Brussels, where they had already built a large Gothic building for their town hall.

The final result was a building that is currently presented as the most famous gothic town hall in the world.

It is difficult to confirm this assertion, but the truth is that it is a spectacular building in flowery gothic style.

Now, it is worth making two considerations.

What to see when visiting Leuven City Hall

On the one hand, in reality Leuven town hall It is a group of buildings that occupy a block, inside which a patio opens.

The image you have of this town hall is only the one that corresponds to one of said buildings, the so-called front house.

With a very ornamental flowery gothic style, its main façade faces the Leuven main square, in front of the aforementioned church.

In the original project plans, this wing of the town hall was going to have a large tower in the image and likeness of the one in Brussels, but in the end the idea was abandoned and it was decided to build a third floor.

Statues on the façade of Leuven town hall

And on the other hand, very important, much of the fame of this building is due to the spectacular collection of 236 statues which, distributed in their respective niches, cover its façades.

Interestingly, the Leuven town hall It was without statues for 400 years, although the initial idea was to place them in the niches that were built for this purpose.

But that did not happen and the canopies that were going to cover them and the carved pedestals where they were going to be placed remained empty.

Finally, starting in 1850 it was decided to tackle the project of sculpting and placing the statues.

At that time in Belgium one lived fashion for statues (something similar happened in the Bruges town hall), which in the case of Leuven led to a team of about 20 sculptors working for decades.

It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that the building was covered with statues.

Therefore, do not be surprised to see that the statues on the façade have no thematic relationship with the representations of biblical stories that decorate the aforementioned pedestals, which are original from the time in which the town hall was built.

I remind you that in the Middle Ages, when the vast majority of the population was illiterate, these types of representations served to convey messages and warnings about good and evil.

And as for the statue characters, who wear clothing from different periods, are grouped by floor, so that the artists and historical figures of the city are found in the niches on the ground floor.

On the first floor there are patterns of parishes, mayors and councilors; in the second, kings and nobles, including the Belgian king Leopold II o Napoleon; and finally biblical figures have been placed on the towers.

Surprisingly, the building did not suffer the consequences of the great wars of the 20th century, especially the World War IWhen Leuven It was almost destroyed by bombing.

Furthermore, it was fortunate that in the Second World War An Allied bomb would only graze the façade of the town hall.

Visiting hours for Leuven town hall

El Visiting hours of the Leuven town hall in English it is, from Monday to Thursday, at 15 p.m., and Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, at 16 p.m.

It is a single guided group tour which takes place daily, also in German and French.

During the visit, you visit several rooms, you see the 18th century staircase and, of course, you access the large Gothic Room.

This main room of the town hall has corners with elements from different periods, from the 1994th century, through the late XNUMXth century and the most recent furniture from XNUMX.

Leuven Town Hall ticket prices

El entrance price to visit the Leuven town hall It is 4 euros, plus 2 euros for the online reservation, which is essential.