The Martyrs' Square was designed by the architect Claude Fisco and built on the ruins of an old laundry. Originally named Saint Michael's Square, it was later renamed Martyrs' Square.
On Martyrs' Square in Brussels stands a memorial column in honor of Alexandre Dechet. He was a French theater actor but his fame does not come from that. He is the author of the text of the Brabançonne, the Belgian national anthem.
According to tradition, Dechet is said to have written the text for the Brabançonne in the café "L'Aigle d'Or" in Greepstraat in Brussels during the first revolutionary meetings in the August days of 1830, shortly after the performance of the opera The Stumme of Portici, which marked the starting point for the Belgian Revolution.
During the Belgian Revolution, Dechet volunteered for the revolutionary armies and ended up in the corps of Charles Niellon, who was also a Frenchman. He fell in battle against Dutch troops near Lier.
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