The Grand-Place of Mons is the city's animated central square, flanked by the 15th-century town hall and ringed by café terraces. The town hall's Gothic facade is unusually ornate for a Belgian city of this size, but the dominant feature of the square is not the town hall — it is the Baroque belfry that rises on the hill behind it, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the Belfries of Belgium and France.
The belfry was begun in 1661 and took over a century to complete, which explains its eclectic tower top. Guided tours run in summer and allow you to climb inside; the view from the top takes in the Hainaut countryside and, on clear days, the distant hills of the Ardennes. On the corner of the town hall, look for the small iron monkey — touching its head is said to bring good luck, and the monkey's nose is rubbed bright by centuries of hopeful hands.