Excerpt from
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand-Place:
The Grand-Place is lined on each side with a number of guildhalls and a few private houses. At first modest structures, in their current form, they are largely the result of the reconstruction after the bombardment of 1695. The strongly structured facades with their rich sculptural decoration including pilasters and balustrades and their lavishly designed gables are based on Italian Baroque with some Flemish influences. The architects involved in the new development were Jan Cosijn, Pieter Herbosch, Antoine Pastorana, Cornelis van Nerven, Guilliam or Willem de Bruyn and Adolphe Samyn.
In addition to the name of the respective guild, each house has its own name. The house numbering starts at the northern corner of the square to the left of the Rue au Beurre/Boterstraat in a counter-clockwise direction. The most beautiful houses are probably no. 1 to 7 on the north-western side. On the south-western side, between the Rue de la Tête d'or/Guldenhoofdstraat and Rue Charles Buls/Karel Bulsstraat, are the Town Hall, and the houses no. 8 to 12 to the left of it on the south-eastern side. Still on the south-eastern side, between the Rue des Chapeliers/Hoedenmakersstraat and the Rue de la Colline/Bergstraat, are the houses no. 13 to 19. On the north-eastern side, the King's House, which is located between the Rue des Harengs/Haringstraat and the Rue Chair et Pain/Vlees-en-Broodstraat, is to the right of the houses no. 20 to 28 and to the left of the houses no. 34 to 39.
