Lying at the heart of the Marolles are the Place du Jeu de Balle/Vossenplein, home to the Old Market, and the Cité Hellemans collective housing complex.

[8] Lepers were also exiled to this area, and from 1691, they were cared for by the Apostoline sisters, a religious congregation from which the toponym Marolles is thought to be derived (from Mariam Colentes in Latin ("those who honour the Virgin Mary"), later contracted to Maricolles/Marikollen, and finally Marolles/Marollen).

In 1860, during the reign of King Leopold I, a royal decree announced the construction of a new Palace of Justice (the old one located on what is today the Place de la Justice/Gerechtsplein having quickly deteriorated and exceeded its capacity), and an international architectural competition was organised for its design.

[16][17] The Palace's location is on the Galgenberg hill (French: Mont aux potences; "Gallows Mount"), where in the Middle Ages convicted criminals were hanged, hence its name.

[21] Poelaert himself resided in the Marolles, only a few hundred metres from the building, on the Rue des Minimes, in a house adjoining his vast offices and workshops and communicating with them.

At the end of the war, a mock funeral procession for Hitler was held in the Marolles, during which funds were raised to support the victims of Auschwitz.

[24][25] In some areas of the Marolles, the ensuing poverty left its mark on the urban landscape and scarred the social life of the community, leading to rising crime rates and pervading cultural intolerance.