Brussels' Town Hall was built on the south side of the Grand Place in stages, between 1401 and 1455, and made it the seat of municipal power. Its spire towers high, and is capped by a 4-metre (12 ft) statue of Saint Michael slaying a demon or devil. To counter this symbol of municipal power, from 1504 to 1536, the Duke of Brabant ordered a large building to be constructed across from the Town Hall as a symbol of ducal power. It was erected on the site of the first cloth and bread markets, which were no longer in use, and it became known as the "King's House" (Middle Dutch: "'s Conincxhuys") although no king has ever lived there. It is currently known as the ("King's House") in French, but in Dutch, it continues to be called the ("Breadhouse"), after the market whose place it took. Over time, wealthy merchants and the increasingly powerful Guilds of Brussels built houses around the square.