Manneken Pis, Brussels, Belgium

Manneken Pis- little man urinating- is a small bronze sculpture of about 61 cm depicting a naked little boy urinating. It's a landmark of Brussels.
It was designed by Hieronymus Duquesnoy the Elder and was put in place in 1619.
According to one legend, the little boy was Duke Godfrey III of Leuven who, during a battle in 1142 when he was two, was put in a basket hanging from a tree to encourage his troops. From there he urinated over the enemy army, that eventually lost the battle.
Another legend says that in the 14th century when Brussels was under siege, a little boy spied on the enemy army and urinated on a fuse that was being used to detonate the explosive charges that were to destroy the city walls. 
There was a former version of the small statue, made of stone, dating from the 14th century.
Since 1987, for gender equality sake, there's a female version of Manneken Pis, Jeanneke Pis, in a street nearby.





Local: Stalingrad, 1000 Brussel, Bélgica

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