A daily flea market fills the cobbled Place du Jeu de Balle among narrow terraced streets that Black and Billy and Buddy used as Brussels exteriors.
What Marolles looks like
is a cobbled square lined with three to four storey buildings, their ground floors given over to secondhand and antique shops. Stalls fill the square every morning with secondhand furniture and clothes, and vans and cars line the surrounding curbs when the market packs down.
and Rue Blaes run parallel through the district, narrow streets of painted plaster and plain brick facades on tight frontages. A long yellow and red brick housing block, , lines Rue Blaes. Its arcades lead through to the alleys behind it. A block of modern apartment buildings rises nearby on Rue du Miroir, plainer and taller than the terraces around it, with a metal bicycle shelter out front. The grid climbs steadily toward the ridge where the sits above the rooftops.
At the northern end, Rue Haute meets a small square of stepped gable buildings. Small shops, including a bar and a gift shop, fill their ground floors. stands nearby, a stone church with a Baroque bell tower rising over the surrounding streets.
Toward the southern edge, Rue Haute runs on to , a stone gate set in a small park at the edge of the district. A paved path lined with bare trees leads up to the gate, which today houses a small museum.
Shot in Marolles
The 2015 film Black filmed on Rue Haute and at Cite Hellemans, the Rue Blaes housing block. Billy and Buddy used Rue Haute the same way in 2012, one exterior among several Brussels locations.
Black, 2015
Rue Haute
Black used Rue Haute as one of its Brussels exteriors, filming the street on location. Near the top of the street the buildings step down toward Notre-Dame de la Chapelle, their ground floors given over to small shops. Street View
Billy and Buddy, 2012
Billy and Buddy filmed on Rue Haute as well, on location rather than on a set. The production also shot several exteriors in Ixelles and Uccle, elsewhere in Brussels, for the same film. Street View
What Marolles can double for
Arnold Circus in London, England
Arnold Circus's arcaded brick blocks are close in scale and date to Cite Hellemans, both built as early social housing before the First World War. The estate's central raised garden and taller five storey ranges are a different footprint, so a single block face shot low and tight holds the match better than a wide view. Try searching early brick housing block now.
Wazemmes has the same three and four storey brick terraces with small shopfronts at street level, on streets about as narrow as Rue Haute. Its own market square is more built up with permanent stalls and awnings, so a plain residential block away from the market reads closer to the Marolles. Try searching brick terraces narrow street now.
Saint-Ouen in Paris, France
The Marche aux Puces de Saint-Ouen fills its streets with secondhand and antique stalls in the same way Place du Jeu de Balle does, under similarly plain buildings. Saint-Ouen's market is built up with permanent stalls and covered market halls, so an open square shot needs to avoid those structures to keep the comparison honest. Try searching secondhand antique market stalls now.
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