Brussels: The Manneken Pis

Manneken Pis items for sale in Brussels

Every popular tourist destination has its own icon. New York City: the Statue of Liberty, Paris: the Eiffel Tower, Rome: the Colosseum, London: Big Ben, and Brussels: the Manneken Pis.

The what?

The Manneken Pis. Translated from the Brussels Marollien dialect, this is Little Man Pee- a two foot tall bronze statue of a chubby naked boy peeing. The Manneken Pis is perched in an alcove at the corner of Rue de l’Etuve and Rue du Chêne, a short walk from La Grand Place, the city’s main square. You know you’re there when you see Manneken Pis in neon letters, mounted above the street on a building that’s kitty-corner from the fountain. In nice weather the clientele of this Manneken Pis Cafe can enjoy watching the tourists ogle the Brussels landmark from their sidewalk tables.

The Manneken Pis is a fountain. The statue was designed by Hieronymus Duquesnoy the Elder, and placed here around 1619. 



But Brussels' original Manneken Pis statue has been repeatedly stolen, so what the tourists are looking at is a 1965 reproduction. The original restored statue is in a museum on La Grand Place. 

There are a numerous stories about the background of the statue. The most popular is about a two-year-old Belgian Duke who during a 12th century battle was suspended in a basket hung from a tree (to encourage his soldiers). The little Duke urinated on the opposing troops below, and the Duke’s troops won. A charming little story.

The water that streams out of the little guy’s...well, you know...falls into a basin below. On any day there will be a crowd of people gathered at this corner taking pictures of the little pisser.

 










On one corner across from the fountain we saw a man selling dishes of escargots (snails!) to the onlookers. Fast food a la Bruxelles. I thought this was just as interesting as the curious fountain! The escargots were delicious. But I don't think they'd sell well on the streets back in the USA.

You don’t have to go to the corner of Rue de l’Etuve and Rue du Chêne to see the Manneken Pis. He is everywhere in this city. Shops sell the little guy in many different forms. He appears as a lollipop, molded in chocolate or marzipan, and baked as a cookie. His image appears on t-shirts, tea towels, on dishes, on mugs, on miniature souvenir spoons, key chains, bottle openers, ashtrays, refrigerator magnets, cookie and candy tins, and just about anything else you can think of. There are Manneken Pis statues for sale in a variety of sizes and materials. 

You can purchase your own little Manneken Pis fountain to take home, if you wish. We found one of these on display outside a restaurant in one of the narrow pedestrian streets off the Grand Place. Instead of water, beer was flowing from the little fellow, into a giant beer glass. Appetizing.

The city often dresses the little guy in costume to celebrate special occasions. An official organization called The Friends of Manneken Pis is in charge of selecting what he'll wear, and the dressing ceremony is accompanied by a brass band. Serious business.

The Manneken Pis appears on billboards and signs throughout the city. Vending machines in the Brussels airport welcome travelers with psychedelic-style advertisements featuring the Mannekin Pis. He stands on top of a white Coca Cola bottle doing his thing. An arc of light curves from what he holds in his little hand, and into the coke bottle below. The advertisement invites us to taste the Coke side of Belgium. 

If you want an order of Manneken Pis flemish frites to go with that Belgian coke, you can find them in Amsterdam, at the Manneken Pis friterie on Dam Square. These have been voted the best pommes frites in Holland by Frietopia, a Dutch website dedicated to the search for the Netherlands' best fries. Would this sign entice me to eat their fries? I don't think so.




I'd be wary of the Manneken Pis coke, too. Perhaps the Belgians add a special ingredient...