The houses that surrounded the Grand-Place were rebuilt during subsequent years, giving the square its current appearance, though they were frequently modified in the following centuries.

[10] The square frequently hosts festive and cultural events, among them, in August of every even year, the installation of an immense flower carpet in its centre.

Originally, the main square was the geographical centre of the towns and cities in these regions (for example the Grand-Place of Mons, Tournai, Arras, or Lille[c]).

The historical spellings Grand'Place[e] (with an apostrophe) in French and Groote Markt[e] (with a double 'o') in Dutch are outdated,[17][18] but are also still in use in certain sources, such as on wall plaques giving the name of the square.

[20] In the 10th century, Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine, constructed a fort on Saint-Géry Island, the furthest inland point at which the river Senne was still navigable.

[23] It was also well situated near St. Nicholas' Church and along the Causeway (Old Dutch: Steenwegh),[21] an important trade route between the prosperous regions of the Rhineland (in modern-day Germany) and the County of Flanders.

[27][28] Improvements to the Grand-Place from the 14th century onwards would mark the rise in importance of local merchants and tradesmen relative to the nobility.

As he was short on money, the Duke gradually transferred parts of his control rights over trade and mills to the local authorities, prompting them to build edifices worthy of their new status.

[22][30][28] Brussels' Town Hall was erected in stages, between 1401 and 1455, on the south side of the Grand-Place, transforming the square into the seat of municipal power.

[30][28] To counter this, from 1504 to 1536, the Duke of Brabant ordered the construction of a large Flamboyant edifice across from the city hall to house his administrative services.

In 1719, it was the turn of François Anneessens, dean of the Nation of St. Christopher, who was beheaded on the Grand-Place because of his resistance to innovations in city government detrimental to the power of the guilds and for his suspected involvement with uprisings within the Austrian Netherlands.

[22][44] Their efforts were regulated by the city's councillors and the Governor of Brussels, who required that their plans be submitted to the authorities for approval,[45] and fines were threatened against those who did not comply.

[44][46] This helped deliver a remarkably harmonious layout for the rebuilt square, despite the ostensibly clashing combination of Gothic, Baroque and Louis XIV style.

They were abolished in 1795, under the French regime,[29] and the guildhalls' furniture and archives were seized by the state and sold at public auction on the square in 1796.

[20] By the late 19th century, a sensitivity arose about the heritage value of the buildings – the turning point was the demolition of the L'Étoile (Dutch: De Sterre) guildhall in 1853 to widen the street on the left of the Town Hall in order to allow the passage of a horse-drawn tramway.

[49][52] Under the impulse of the city's then-mayor, Charles Buls, the authorities had the Grand-Place returned to its former splendour, with buildings restored or reconstructed.

[54] It was replaced in 1864 by a fountain surmounted by statues of the Counts of Egmont and Horn, which was erected in front of the King's House and later moved to the Square du Petit Sablon/Kleine Zavelsquare.

[27][56] The Grand-Place attracted many famous visitors during that period, among them Victor Hugo, who resided in the Le Pigeon (Dutch: De Duif) guildhall in 1852,[57] as well as Charles Baudelaire, who gave two conferences at the King's House in the 1860s.

A bomb planted under an open‐air stage where a British Army band was preparing to give a concert injured at least 15 persons, including four bandsmen, and caused extensive damage.

[65] The City of Brussels had been thinking about pedestrianising the square and its surrounding streets for several years, but a car park nearby prevented the project from materialising.

Historians think that it could be William (Willem) de Voghel who was the architect of the City of Brussels in 1452, and who was also, at that time, the designer of the Aula Magna; the great hall at the Palace of Coudenberg.

[68] The façade is decorated with numerous statues representing the local nobility (such as the Dukes and Duchesses of Brabant and knights of the Noble Houses of Brussels), saints, and allegorical figures.

[69] The 96-metre-high (315 ft) tower in Brabantine Gothic style is the work of Jan van Ruysbroek, the court architect of Philip the Good.

In the 16th century, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V ordered his court architect Antoon II Keldermans [nl] to rebuild it in a late Gothic style very similar to the contemporary design, although without towers or galleries.

The current building, whose interior was renovated in 1985, has housed the Brussels City Museum since 1887,[32] in which, among other things, the Town Hall's original sculptures are shown.

The strongly structured façades with their rich sculptural decoration including pilasters and balustrades and their lavishly designed gables are based on Italian Baroque with some Flemish influences.

[80] Festivities and cultural events are frequently organised on the Grand-Place, such as sound and light shows during the Christmas and New Year period as part of the "Winter Wonders",[81] as well as concerts in the summer.

[20] The first Flower Carpet was created in Brussels in 1971 by the Ghent landscape architect Etienne Stautemans in an effort to advertise his work, and due to its popularity, the tradition continued in subsequent years.

Starting in 1986, the event has been regularly held biannually, each time under a different theme, with the Flower Carpet now estimated to attract between 150,000 and 200,000 local and international visitors.

[85] Twice a year, at the turn of June and July, the Ommegang of Brussels, a type of medieval pageant and folkloric costumed procession, ends with a large spectacle at the Grand-Place.