Place Guillaume

Place Guillaume Review

This square is known locally as the Knuedler, a name derived from the girdle worn by Franciscan monks who once had a monastery on the site. On market days (Wednesday and Saturday mornings) it is a mass of retail fruit and vegetable stands, flower vendors, cheese- and fishmongers, and a few remaining farmers who bring in their personal crops of potatoes, apples, cabbage, and radishes—as well as homemade jam, sauerkraut, and goat cheese. That's Grand Duke William II on the bronze horse; he reigned from 1840 to 1849, while Luxembourg was flush with new independence. The Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall), its stairs flanked by two bronze lions, was inaugurated in 1844.