The city of the merchants lay about the Hôtel-de-Ville, the Senne, and the old navigation. The town and court of the =Counts of Louvain= and =Dukes of Brabant= clustered about the Castle on the high ground overlooking the Lower City. On this hill, the =Caudenberg=, the Counts of Louvain built their first palace, close to what is now the Place Royale. Their castle was burnt down in 1731, but the neighbourhood has ever since been the seat of the Belgian court for the time being—Burgundian, Austrian, Dutch, or Coburger. All this quarter, however, has been so greatly altered by modern “improvements” that scarcely a relic of antiquity is now left in it, with the exception of a few mediæval churches. In spite of the competition of the Central or Inner Boulevards, the =Montagne de la Cour=, which mounts directly from the Grand’ Place to the Cour (the residence of the Dukes or afterwards of the Emperors and the Austrian Viceroys), still remains the principal street for shopping in Brussels. It takes one straight into the =Place Royale=, one of the finest modern squares in Europe, occupying in part the site of the old Castle. Its centre is filled by the famous *statue of =Godfrey de Bouillon= by Simonis: the great Crusader is represented on horseback, waving his banner, and crying his celebrated cry of “Dieu le veut!” The unimpressive =Church=, with Corinthian pillars, a crude fresco in the pediment, and a green cupola, which faces you as you enter, is =St. Jacques sur Caudenberg=. To R. and L. you open up vistas of the =Rue de la Régence= and the =Rue Royale=. The former is closed by the huge mass of the new =Palais de Justice=. The latter ends in the great domed church of =Ste. Marie de Schaerbeck=.