Antwerp is a city located in the Flemish region of Belgium. Its historical sights can be bypassed literally in a couple of days due to the fact that this is a fairly small city and all the main and significant places of congestion of tourists are located mainly in its center. Antwerp is the world center of trade and diamond cutting, which later become diamonds. Prices for products are much lower than in other European countries. Therefore, travelers go here not only to get acquainted with the monuments of architecture, but also for the purpose of buying diamonds.
What to see in Antwerp?
Town Hall in Antwerp
The first Renaissance building in Europe is the famous Antwerp Town Hall, built in the 16th century (1561-1565), when Antwerp was the European shopping center. Not standing for ten years, the town hall was burned by the Spaniards during the seizure of the city. Only in the 19th century was it possible to restore the interiors of the town hall, styled in the old days. This became feasible thanks to the efforts of the Belgian architect Pierre Bruno.
Currently, the town hall has flags of many countries, including the Russian and Ukrainian flag.
House of Rubens in Antwerp
In Antwerp, lived and worked the most famous Belgian artist Peter Paul Rubens. In 1946, after his death, a house museum was opened, where he lived.
He tried to make the interior of his house luxurious. And also related to the organization of space around the house: a large number of fountains, columns, sculptures and flower beds with beautiful flowers.
Steven Castle in Antwerp
This famous Antwerp fortress was erected on the river Scheldu in the 13th century. Oea performed a protective function during the siege of the city. For nearly five centuries it was a prison for those who broke the law.
In the 19th century, the need arose to change the riverbed and most of the structures were destroyed, including the oldest church in Antwerp.
In 1963, before the entrance to the castle was installed a monument to Long Wapper - a famous character of local legends.
Here is the Museum of Navigation.
Antwerp: Cathedral of Our Lady
The highest church tower is 123 meters high and can be seen from anywhere in the city. The construction of the cathedral began in the 14th century, but the church was completely built only two centuries later. In the 16th century, the Calvinists destroyed virtually everything that was in the cathedral: relics, paintings, altars, tombs. Currently, a small number of frescoes and the Madonna image, made of marble in the 14th century, have been preserved.
Builders and architects have tried to restore the former appearance of a church that was destroyed before, in which several styles are intertwined: rococo, gothic, baroque and renaissance. On the window stained glass depicts stories from the Bible.
In the cathedral are four famous works of Rubens:
- "Descent from the Cross";
- "Exaltation of the Cross"
- Ascension of Mary ";
- The Resurrection of Christ.
Above the altar, visitors to the cathedral can see Abraham Mattissens's painting "The Death of Mary."
Antwerp: The Royal Museum of Fine Arts
In this fairly chic museum you can see the works of Belgian artists who lived in the 60s of the 20th century. Also here you can find more than one and a half thousand paintings of contemporary artists. But the most important feature of the museum is, of course, the largest collection of paintings by Rubens.
Tourists can visit the following Antwerp museums:
- museum of musical instruments;
- National Museum of Shipping;
- Museum of Planten-Moretus, dedicated to the history of the printing house;
- a museum of diamonds, where the world's most beautiful diamond Koch-i-Nor is stored.
Visiting Antwerp, rich in sights, you will truly be amazed at how much in its architectural monuments the history of this small European town has been preserved. And after, acquaintance with sights can be continued in neighboring states - Luxembourg, France, Germany and the Netherlands.