With the first installation of the comic book adaptation The Adventures of Tintin about to hit North American theaters this December, the city of Brussels in Belgium celebrates its literary heritage as the birthplace and backdrop for the world-famous comic books, reports the Daily Mail.
Local landmarks such as the Royal Palace, the Royal Observatory and the Metropole Hotel have all appeared in comics by Hergé – the pen name of Belgian artist Georges Rémi.
Other locales, such as the Place de Jeu de Balle in the Les Marolles were used as filming locations for the upcoming Steven Spielberg-directed movie, which follows the plot of three original comics The Crab with the Golden Claws (1941), The Secret of the Unicorn (1943), and Red Rackham’s Treasure (1944).
The city itself is proud of Tintin’s success, and murals, statues and signs dot the landscape. A life-sized bronze statue of Tintin stands outside the Comics Cafe in the Place du Grand Sablon, and the interior of the cafe is filled with memorabilia.
Hergé is celebrated alongside other famous Belgian cartoonists like the Smurfs creator Peyo at the Comic Strip Centre at the Rue des Sables. A little outside of the city proper, there’s the Hergé Museum at Louvain-La-Neuve, which is funded by the late artist’s widow Fanny.