The Grote Markt (; "Big Market") is the central

square In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90- degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length a ...

of Leuven, Flemish Brabant, Belgium. It is situated between the

Oude Markt The Oude Markt (Dutch for "Old Market") is a rectangular square in the centre of Leuven, Flemish Brabant, Belgium, that largely consists of catering establishments. This is why it is nicknamed the "longest bar in the world". History and buil ...

("Old Square") and the Rector De Somerplein ("Rector De Somer Square", named for Pieter De Somer, the first

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the autonomous

Dutch-speaking Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after its close relatives German and English. ''Afrikaans'' i ...

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven) in 1968) and near both the Bondgenotenlaan ("Avenue of the Allied Forces") and the Muntstraat ("Mint Street"). The Grote Markt's location on the crossing of some of Leuven's most famous and most touristic spots make it one of the city's busiest squares. It has been pedestrian-friendly for some years; only public transportation buses from

De Lijn Vlaamse Vervoersmaatschappij De Lijn (English: Flemish transport company ''De Lijn''), usually known as De Lijn (, "The Line"), is a company run by the Flemish government in Belgium to provide public transportation with about 2240 buses and 399 tr ...

are allowed to use the square.

History and buildings

The Grote Markt's location is one of the oldest and most historic in all of Leuven. The square has existed in its present form since the 14th century, when the Old University of Leuven was established. Most of the square's buildings are built in the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style, of which the Town Hall is a prime example. Other buildings on the Grote Markt are the Church of St. Peter and several

guildhall A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in som ...

s. As throughout Leuven, there are also many pubs, taverns, and eateries on the Grote Markt. There is a significant contrast between the more formal and traditional style establishments on the Grote Markt and the more trendy, youth-oriented and student entertainment spots on the nearby

Events

The Grote Markt is often used for cultural and other events, as is the case for Leuven's other big squares, such as the Oude Markt and the Mgr. Ladeuzeplein ("Mgr. Ladeuze Square"),

Flower Carpet

One yearly event is the transformation of the Grote Markt into one large

flower carpet A flower carpet, french: tapis de fleurs, nl, bloementapijt, es, alfombra de flores, it, infiorata, ml, പൂക്കളം or pookkalam is a carpet made of flowers arranged in patterns. Flower carpet events happen in many places around ...

. Each year celebrates a particular theme, such as 2007's ''Bicentennial of the Leuven Fire Department''. In 2005, an administrative mistake caused the yearly flower carpet, completely made of

begonia ''Begonia'' is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the family Begoniaceae. The genus contains more than 2,000 different plant species. The Begonias are native to moist subtropical and tropical climates. Some species are commonly grown ind ...

s that year, to coincide with the opening and start of the local cycling contest, named after

Jef Scherens Joseph "Jef" Scherens (17 February 1909 – 9 August 1986) was a Belgium, Belgian professional track cyclist, specializing in sprint where he won seven UCI Track Cycling World Championships - Men's Sprint, World Championships. Biography ...

. To avoid having the cyclists start their contest out of the middle of the flower carpet, then-mayor Louis Tobback proposed a compromise: the cyclists would start their race from the outskirts of the square instead of the centre, and as compensation, the theme of that year's flower carpet would be the ''Tribute to Cycling''.

Summer Events

Being a university town, Leuven undergoes a drastic decrease in its usual population when thousands of students go home for the summer. For the last twenty odd years, the city of Leuven tries to compensate for the lack of students (along with their associated social activities) by organising a number of summer events. Some of these taking place on the Grote Markt, among other spots in town, are: * Beleuvenissen: weekly concerts on Friday nights in July, with themes such as salsa, tropical, jazz, blues. * Hapje-Tapje (literally: ''a little snack-a small drink'', approximately pronounced in English as ''hap-yeh, tap-yeh''): a gastronomical ''market'' during which participating restaurants set up stalls on the streets and squares of Leuven and offer small plates of their best food for a bargain price.

Planting of the Meyboom

One of the oldest events is the planting of the

Meyboom The Meyboom plantation (or Meiboom in Dutch, "May tree" – a bastardisation of the Dutch ''tree of joy'') is the oldest tradition in Brussels, Belgium, attested since 1308. It is held every year on 9 August, the eve of St Lawrence's Day, and ...

("May tree" – a bastardisation of the Dutch ''tree of joy'') which, in contrast with the British version, is not a pole as such but an actual tree, in Leuven usually a large

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains ...

tree. The origin of the Meyboom celebration in Leuven is reminiscent of the city's long-standing (folkloric) feud with neighbouring

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

.''Meibomen in Brussel en Leuven probleemloos geplant'', ''Het Laatste Nieuws'', 9 August 2014 The tradition goes back seven centuries, and according to the local folklore, commemorates a victory of Brussels over Leuven, although others claim the origin was a wedding ceremony during which a nobleman from Leuven married a lower class girl from Brussels. The nobleman then gave money to celebrate Saint Lawrence, the local

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

, and plant a tree of joy or ''Meyboom'' in his honour. The legend is told slightly differently in Brussels than in Leuven. It claims that one day in 1213, a wedding was held in a pub in Brussels. During the festivities, the guests noticed a gang of troublemakers from Leuven. A fight broke out, and just when the wedding guests from Brussels were losing the fight, the ''Companions of St Lawrence'', a city

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

, came to their rescue. The Leuven gang lost and Duke Henri I of Brabant gave the guild members permission to plant the

each year on August 9; but this privilege would be lost if ever the people of Leuven managed to capture the tree before 5 p.m.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* {{cite book, last1=Henne, first1=Alexandre, last2=Wauters, first2=Alphonse, title=Histoire de la ville de Bruxelles, volume=1, location=Brussels, language=fr, publisher=Périchon, year=1845, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u_pAAAAAcAAJ Squares in Belgium Buildings and structures in Leuven Tourist attractions in Leuven