The inside of the Staduis provides as much interest as the outside. Here are some of the many interesting rooms within.

The Gothic Hall

This is the room where Leuven town council meets, even after the relocation of all the municipal services and the councillors’ offices to newer premises.

The beam blocks on the market side are 15th century old, gothic and were carved by the Brussels sculptor William Ards. They illustrate the life of Maria and Christ, the example of clemency and justice. The foyer underneath the gothic hall features scenes from the Old Testament: so that the New Testament has been literally built on top of the Old. A number of cornerstones between the beams are perhaps the work of Joes Beyaert; animals symbolise good and evil, symbols of the evangelists, prophets and church fathers etc.*

The Mayor’s Office

In the beginning this is where the ‘Saint Peter’s Lords of the Seven Noble Families’ used to meet. Until a few years ago this served as the mayor’s office. It is decorated in and 18th century style.*

The Attic

The attic is reached by way of  a spiral staircase. When you arrive at the top of the stairs you are greeted with a stunning view of roof beams of oak and rows of original sculptures from the building stadhuis facade.

The sculptures you see today on the richly ornate facade are not the originals! In 1828-1841, during restoration work, around 200 weather-damaged sculpted bases of the niches of the ‘front house’ and other 15th century sculptures in Avesnes stone were replaced by new sculptures in a different kind of stone. The original pieces ended up in the attic. But it turned out that the new pieces were not so weather resistant, so they were replaced again. Some of the sculptures from the 19th and 20th century are here because they have since been replaced.*

It was fascinating to be able to see close up, both the original and 19th century sculptures.

*From the Tourism leaflet -The Town Hall; The Pride and Joy of Leuven

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Built between 1439 and 1463 from the profits of the cloth trade, Leuven’s Stadhuis was designed to demonstrate the wealth of the city’s merchants. This tall and distinctive building is renowned for its lavishly carved and decorated facade. A line of narrow windows rises up over three floors beneath a steeply pitched roof adorned with dormer windows and pencil-thin turrets. *

However, it is in the exquisite quality of its stonework that the building excels, with delicately carved tracery and detailed medieval figures beneath 300 niche bases. There are grotesques of every description as well as representations of folktales and biblical stories, all of which are carved in an exuberant style. Within the niche alcoves are 19th-century statues depicting local dignitaries and politicians. *

*From Eyewitness Travel Guide to Belgium and Luxembourg

It takes its name from the fortress of the ‘burg’, that was built here in 865 by Baldwin Iron Arm, the first Count of Flanders, as defence against Norman invasion, and around which a village developed.  Popular events, including burnings at the stake and beheadings, were often held in the Burg.*

*Insight Guides, Bruges, Smart Guide