Martyrs' Square

The Martyrs' Square was designed by the architect Claude Fisco and built on the ruins of an old laundry. Originally named St. Michael's Square, it was later renamed Martyrs' Square. In 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 café "L'Aigle d'Or" in the Greepstraat in Brussels during the first revolutionary gatherings in the August days of 1830, shortly after the performance of the opera The Dumb Man of Portici, which marked the start of the Belgian Revolution. During the Belgian Revolution, Dechet joined the revolutionary armies as a volunteer and ended up in the corps of Charles Niellon, also a Frenchman. He fell in battle against Dutch troops at Lier.

Dromos