Montenegro’s Embassy in Brussels, together with missions to the EU and NATO, organised the now traditional 13 July – Statehood Day ceremony of dressing the famous Manneken-Pis statue in Montenegrin folk attire. Dressing up the little boy’s statue – which is a symbol of Brussels – in various national costumes is a tradition and one of important tourist attractions of the city.
The ceremony at the heart of Brussels was attend by city representatives, foreign ministry officials, Belgian parliament’s official protocol, the diplomatic corps, Montenegrin citizens residing in Belgium, and many other guests and tourists.
Ambassador Vesko Garčević and president of the “Friends of Manneken-Pis” association shortly addressed the attendees of the ceremony.
Dressing up the tiny mascot in Montenegrin national costume was first done in 2012 in cooperation with the Tourist Organisation of Montenegro. Since then, the national costume has been a feature of the Brussels City Museum.
The bronze statue of Manneken Pis, dating back four centuries, was erected in the honour of a boy who, according to a middle ages legend, saved Brussels by extinguishing a fuse by urinating, and thus stopped the conquerors from blasting the city walls. It is one of the greatest tourist attractions of the Belgian capital, viewed annually by several million people.
{eventgallery event=’11072014′ attr=images mode=imagelist max_images=0 thumb_width=50 }
