Fodor's Expert Review Stadhuis

There is no grander Town Hall in Belgium than Leuven's 15th-century folly. Built to dazzle, the profits from its cloth trade were sunk into letting everyone know just how wealthy its merchants were. Some 235 individually carved stone figures decorate the outside, cut into small alcoves and giving the building a strange texture from afar. These figures were added after 1850, and each tells a different folk tale, bible parable, or story of the city; you'll also find grotesques of local nobles and dignitaries.