The Grote Markt is Veurne's set-piece — a wide cobbled square lined on every side with red-brick step-gabled houses and the Spanish Pavilion (Spaans Paviljoen), so named because Spanish officers were billeted here in the late sixteenth century when Veurne was a frontier town in the Spanish Netherlands. The composition is small, tight, and very pretty: most visitors agree it ranks with Bruges and Brussels among the best market squares in Flanders.
The town hall (Stadhuis), Vleeshuis (old butchers' hall), Sint-Walburgakerk, and Belfry all face onto the square. There is a small market on Wednesday mornings; on most other days the cafes set tables out under the gables. The Procession of Penitence assembles and ends here every July.