Brussels - Quartier des Marolles 
The Quartier des Marolles occupies a triangular area on the south side of Brussels' center between the Gare du Midi, Porte de Hal and, towering high above everything, the Palais de Justice. Up to now the district has always been the preserve of the under-privileged, living by their wits and deeply distrustful of "the authorities". This distrust has been fuelled anew now that the very survival of the quarter is threatened by a wave of speculative building and an influx of EC employees for whom the Marolles is the "smart" place to have an apartment - after it has been luxuriously restored that is! About 10,000 people live in the area, mainly low wage earners, shopkeepers and tradespeople, often speaking a patois incomprehensible to outsiders by whom they tend to be regarded as loud-mouthed and uncouth.
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Must-see attractions nearby:
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Even in the Middle Ages the Marolles was a refuge for the persecuted and today as many as a third of its inhabitants are thought to be illegal immigrants. The quarter's most famous son was Pieter Bruegel the Elder whose house stands in the Rue Haute (Hoogstraat; No. 132).
Related Attractions
Palais de Justice (Justeipaleis)
The modest houses of the Quartier des Marolles cower in the shadow of the huge Palais de Justice (1866-83), designed by Joseph Poelaert and built on the Galgenberg, the hill where the gallows stood in medieval times. Its massive dimensions, 104m/341ft high and 26,000sq.m/31,096sq.yd in area, make it the largest building to be erected in Brussels in the 19th C.
Flea Market
This market functions daily from 7am to 2pm and it is located in the square of Jeu de Balle. Haggling is expected there and one should expect up to 50% lower than the asking price.
Hours
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | 7:00 | 7:00 | 7:00 | 7:00 | 7:00 | 7:00 | 7:00 |
| Close | 14:00 | 14:00 | 14:00 | 14:00 | 14:00 | 14:00 | 14:00 |
Notre-Dame de la Chapelle (Kapellekerk)
Except for the west tower which was completed in 1699, the Brabant Gothic church of Notre-Dame de la Chapelle on the northern edge of the Marolles dates from the 13th-15th C.
Place du Jeu de Balle (Vossenplein)
The Place du Jeu de Balle at the heart of the Marolles has a very colorful street market selling all kinds of merchandise.
