Friday, August 13, 2010

Brussels Flower Carpet 2010 Webcam in Grand Place

Every two years in August, an enormous "flower carpet" is set up in Brussels Grand Place for a few days. A million colourful begonias are set up in patterns, and the display covers a total of 1,800 square metres. The first flower carpet was made in 1971, and due to its popularity, the tradition continued, with the flower carpet attracting a large number of tourists.

You can watch this year's flower carpet live on the Grand place webcam:

Brussels webcam

Location Information:

The Grand Place or Grote Markt is the central square of Brussels. It is surrounded by guildhalls, the city's Town Hall, and the Breadhouse (French: Maison du Roi, Dutch: Broodhuis). The square is the most important tourist destination and most memorable landmark in Brussels, along with the Atomium and Manneken Pis. It measures 68 by 110 metres (223 by 360 ft), and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In the 10th century, Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine constructed a fort on Saint-Géry Island, the point at which the Senne river became navigable. This was the seed of what would become Brussels. By the end of the 11th century, an open-air marketplace was set up on a dried-out marsh near the fort that was surrounded by sandbanks. The market was called the Nedermerckt, or Lower Market.