The Manneken Pis Fountain is a widely known Belgian attraction. Its fame has long ago spread beyond the boundaries of the country and has turned it into a touristic brand.

The image of Manneken Pis can be found everywhere in Belgium: on magnets, postcards, keyrings, figurines, t-shirts and, of course, in the form of sweet chocolate and marzipan products. Locals gave it the nickname «Baby Julien».

The fountain is located in the center of Brussels: at the corner of the streets Rue de l'Étuve and Rue du Chene, not far from the main square – the Grand Place. This place is never deserted because numerous tourists from all over the world strive to see the fountain.

The statue of a naked bronze boy stands on a high pedestal which is framed by an arch of light stone. It is fenced off from visitors by a cast-iron grating. So if you want to take a beautiful photo, you will not only need to get through a crowd of people but also stick your camera out through the metal fence.

The sculpture of a smiling curly-haired hooligan, who is pissing in a stone bowl, often disappoints visitors: its size is small – it is only 61 cm high. Nevertheless, the fountain has not lost its popularity for many years and even has copies in other cities.

Not many people know that Brussels has other similar monuments: Jeanneke Pis and Zinneke Pis.

The exact data and the history of how the monument appeared are still unknown, but there are many city legends about it. One of them says that a young boy is a national hero who saved the city during a war. He either pissed on combat supplies, which were meant to blow up Brussels, or extinguished the fire.

According to another, equally heroic, legend, one of the residents of the city lost his son and, after 5 days, found him pissing in this place. The loving father decided to build a fountain there, in honor of this event.

The statue was stolen several times. It got its current appearance in 1619.