The Mirror Room
A ceiling shimmering with beetle-wing green — contemporary art in a palace.
Alvesgaspar — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Martin Falbisoner — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Maximilian Greger — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Royal Palace is the official palace of the King of the Belgians — not his residence (the royal family lives at Laeken Palace), but where he receives and carries out his duties. Its long, grand façade (neoclassical, completed 1934) faces Brussels Park, one of the city's finest formal views. Its secret is that it opens free to the public in summer only (late July to early September) after the National Day — so you walk the throne room, the mirror room and the grand staircase among chandeliers. Its unexpected star is the "Mirror Room", whose ceiling and chandelier the artist Jan Fabre covered with the shells of 1.4 million shimmering green jewel beetles — a breathtaking contemporary masterpiece. Across the Place Royale from the Royal Museums and the Magritte Museum, on the edge of Brussels Park — the official heart of Brussels. Outside summer: the façade and park alone.
A ceiling shimmering with beetle-wing green — contemporary art in a palace.
The formal splendour of the Belgian monarchy.
Brussels' finest formal view — seen year-round.
Place des Palais, 1000 Brussels
BELvue MuseumThe museum of Belgian history, in an eighteenth-century mansion directly facing 2 minutes walk4.3
Magritte MuseumThe Magritte Museum holds the world's largest collection of René Magritte, Belgi3 minutes walk4.4
Musical Instruments Museum (MIM)The Musical Instruments Museum is among the world's most important instrument mu3 minutes walk4.3
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of BelgiumThe Royal Museums of Fine Arts are Belgium's largest art complex, on the Place R4 minutes walk4.6
BOZAR Centre for Fine ArtsBrussels's principal arts centre, in a building designed by Victor Horta and com4 minutes walk4.6The palace is closed to visitors outside the short summer window, but the façade, Brussels Park opposite and the Place Royale are a view worth passing, and the Royal Museums, Magritte Museum and the Coudenberg archaeological palace are all on the same square — so the area is a full visit without the palace. Visiting in August: do not miss the free entry.