Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Manneken Pis

Manneken Pis is one of Brussels’ most famous landmarks. The bronze statue was created in the 17th century. Belgians have created hundreds of outfits and the statue goes through several costume changes per week. He was sporting a surfboard when I saw it.
There are many stories of the statue’s significance. Here are some of the most popular…
A witch turned a little boy into stone for peeing on her property.
The father of a missing boy declared that he would build a statue of him, doing whatever it was he was doing, when found.
In the 14th century a little boy urinated on the burning fuse of a bomb and saved the city.
Mannekin Pis has been stolen a few times. In 1745 he was taken by the English and by the French in 1747. In 1817 he was stolen by a French convict and was found broken in pieces. The pieces were then used to make the current fountain.
Somewhere near this fountain are statues of a little girl peeing, as well as, a canine version.

No comments:

Post a Comment