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From the Hotel Winssinger, push on south down rue de l'Hotel des Monnaies until you reach the Barriere de St Gilles - a seven-road junction that was, until the middle of the nineteenth century, the site of a toll gate. Close by, south again up avenue Paul Dejaer, is the commune 's Hotel de Ville , a heavy-duty, pseudo-Renaissance edifice, and behind that, at the top end of avenue Jef Lambeaux, rises the ersatz medieval castle which holds the prison . Heading east from the prison, take the first right off avenue Ducpetiaux, turn left at the T-junction - down avenue de la Jonction - and at the end, at the corner of avenue Brugmann, you'll spot the Hotel Hannon , a fine Art Nouveau extravagance designed by the architect Jules Brunfaut in 1903. The windows, equipped with Tiffany glass, are a special highlight - flowing, beautifully carved extravagances set against a facade whose brickwork is decorated with strips of stone. Next door, Les Hiboux - The Owls' House - is a more modest red-brick affair, but it does carry some attractive wrought iron grilles and stained glass, plus an sgraffiti decorative panel depicting two perky little owls. Five minutes' walk away to the south, at avenue Brugmann 80, is Victor Horta's Maison and Atelier Dubois . Completed in 1906, towards the end of Horta's Art Nouveau period, the building is much simpler than some of his earlier works, though it still bears several of his familiar trademarks: a well-lit interior, exquisite carpentry in mahogany and oak, a mosaic floor, and a marble staircase. The building is not open to the public, but the exterior - a modest but subtle facade with curvaceous windows set off by the careful use of wrought iron - is mightily impressive. Doubling back along avenue Brugmann, it's a short stroll to the chaussee de Charleroi , within easy striking distance of the Musee Victor Horta.
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