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One of Brussels’ most distinctive churches occupies a prominent position overlooking the Place Royale: its bell-tower apart, it looks more like a Roman temple than a Christian church (see Église Saint-Jacques-sur-Coudenberg).

The exuberant Flemish Baroque façade of this church contrasts with its history as the focal point of a béguine community of women. Something of their charity and moderation still pervades the interior (see Église St-Jean-Baptiste au Béguinaeg).

13th–16th centuries. Pointed arches allowed for lighter structures.

The artist Albert Ciamberlani (1864–1956) was responsible for the huge mural in the triumphal colonnade of the Cinquantenaire building. He employed Paul Hankar (1859–1901), a key Art Nouveau architect, to build his house and studio in 1897. The façade combines iron, stone and brick to deliver a highly individual decorative effect.

Swathes of Art Nouveau mansions were cleared from Brussels when the style fell from favour. Hôtel Hannon, built in 1902, is a rarity because some of the internal decorations have survived – and also because the public can gain access to the interior.

Art Nouveau tended toward excess, and this accusation might certainly be levelled at this house – all loops and curves, with a circular picture window on the top floor. It was designed for painter Saint-Cyr in 1900.

Brussels’ weirdest Art Nouveau building.

Designed by Victor Horta in 1893–5, this is considered the first Art Nouveau house. Up to this point, the well-to-do who commissioned new private mansions in the mushrooming Belgian suburbs adopted any style going: Moorish, Medieval, Tuscan, whatever. Horta extrapolated from this “eclectic” style to evolve something more integrated and considered. The private mansion of a bachelor engineer, Hôtel Tassel was carefully tailored to all aspects of his lifestyle, but this individualized approach also made it less adaptable for subsequent owners.

A Byzantine-influenced church inspired by a pilgrimage to the Holy Land (see Jeruzalemkerk and the Kantcentrum).

Le Falstaff, a famous restaurant and drinking palace opposite the Bourse in the heart of Brussels, dates from 1903, and still powerfully evokes the era in which it was created. The interior is rich in Art Nouveau detail, seen in the stained glass, the mirrors, the lamp fittings and the furniture (see Le Falstaff).