Close to a million begonia flowers were used to create a huge carpet covering the city plaza in Grand-Place, Brussels.

Based on a medieval rug design, craftsmen arranged the carpet by hand, directly onto the square's cobblestones, without any pots or soil.

The carpet was crafted yesterday and opens to the public in Belgium today.

The first Carpet of Flowers was created in 1971 as a way to promote begonias. Each square metre of ground contains more than 300 flowers.

Watch the slide show at www.flowercarpet.be.