A must-see if you are in Brussels - one would be embarrassed to have been in the city and not been interested enough to find the miniature little guy with no shame! However, the visitor senses he means more to the locals because of the long history of his creation and placement. I had to laugh at all the costumes that have been created for him - as if he were some sort of Belgian male Barbie doll - and the time some people spend organizing themselves around him. Far be it from me to make fun of local culture, because that would be rather unfair, but I am not a statue club type, probably.

The worst part for us was watching certain tourists get their pictures taken with Mannekin Pis and seeming to be less interested in him and his history than in getting themselves in the image. That happens far too often and not only in Belgium, of course.

As always, I would advise reading up on the whole story of the little fellow in order to better appreciate him. he has legends and even copies in other parts of the world. Wikipedia cites his presence in comic books, video games, and films, in fact. There has to be a very good reason for all this famous and longevity. Just make sure you don’t ask the tourists who are too busy sticking their face next to him. They’re not all that interested. This link has some further links, including the official one for the Mannekin Pis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manneken_Pis

As other reviewers have commented the Manneken Pis is only a small statue and could easily be missed. When we visited Belgium we nearly walked past the statue without noticing it. The Manneken Pis was dressed in what seemed to be a national costume.

Iconic Brussels status of a little boy peeing. Smaller than you might expect, and there will probably be a large crowd of tourists elbowing you out of the way to photograph it. A bit dissapointing, really, but at least you don’t have to go far to see it

One of my visits was fortuitously timed on some (unknown to me) special occasion wherein someone hooks up a keg of flavoured Belgian beer to the back of the statue. The little boy then starts to bee out said delicious beverage, which is captured in cups and passed out to the crowd!

Situated just down a side street from the Grand Place, this statue cannot be said to sum up Brussels (I hope…..) However it certainly gives any weary tourists a cheerful burst of camera snapping! There is a small museum to the side of it and sometimes (and worthy of seeing), the little boy will be in a costume (peeing Santa anyone?)
Plus there is an AWESOME cafe serving lovely Belgian waffles just round the corner….

The little peeing boy who is the face of Brussels! From being excited to see him, to being warned by friends that he wasn’t impressive, to almost missing out on seeing him (because we spent too long searching for his sister the Janneken Pis). Yes, the statue is a lot smaller than the pictures would have it, but no he is not any less cute because of it. It can be quite hard to get a good look though thanks to the tourists jostling for a photo.

Hell, no - does this statue still exist?

I do remember, I was shown "Maneken Pis" a couple of times when I was a little boy, spending a lot of time under medical surgery in brussel. As my parents were living in holland close to the belgium border, it was (next to the Atomium) one of the landmarks that stuck in my mind.

As a little boy it was always a lot of fun seeing this bronze peeing constantly. (The idea to keep me happy while under medical surveillance worked well).

I just recall these memories after almost 33yrs, reading the comment of Phil Chambers. Obviously and due to their prudery the Poms and Americans still find this statue both: suspicious and worth a jostling for a pic... :-)

A weeing statue of a boy. What more can I say about this? You'll have to jostle with the Americans for the best picture!