Brussels is considered the “chocolate capital of the world” because it is home to more chocolate factories than any other city on earth. The well-known chocolate makers of Brussels have worked at their trade for over a century. Cocoa beans first entered Europe in the late 16th century when Spanish explorers brought them back from Mexico; it took a century for them to reach Belgium. Belgian chocolate started building its impressive reputation in the late 1800s when King Leopold II harvested cocoa crops in the colonized African Congo. In 1920, Cappadocian Greek American confectioner Leonidas Kestelides (or Kestekidis) founded the Leonidas chocolate brand after marrying Joanna Teerlinck, a young lady from Brussels. He first came to Belgium to attend the Brussels Universal Exhibition at the Br