Sights in Antwerp
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Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten
The Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten is a monumental neoclassical edifice built at the end of the 19th century. Its stately rooms house an impressive collection of paintings dating from the 14th century to contemporary times and includes works by Flemish masters.
The size of the museum's collection means that paintings are sometimes rotated. To find the highlights you'll need to pick up a museum plan and audio headset (both free) from reception.
The Flemish Primitives are represented by Jan Van Eyck, Hans Memling, Rogier Van der Weyden and Gerard David. Highlights include Van Eyck's unusual, almost monotone Saint Barbara (1437), Memling's rich Christ among Angels Sing…
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Mode Museum
Fashion followers must start with Antwerp's mode museum, MoMu. It's located in the much-celebrated ModeNatie complex, home also to both the Flanders Fashion Institute and the fashion department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Sticking firmly to avant-garde, MoMu changes its exhibits every six months.
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Grote Markt
As in every great Flemish city, life in Antwerp radiates out from the Grote Markt, a vast, pedestrianised, triangular market square presided over by the impressive Renaissance-style stadhuis.
The Grote Markt is lined on two sides by Renaissance-style guildhalls, most of which were reconstructed in the 19th century. The tallest and most impressive is No 7, topped by a gilded statue of St George astride a rearing horse as he spears a dragon.
The voluptuous, baroque Brabo Fountain rises from a rough pile of rocks in the centre of the Grote Markt. Crafted in 1887 by Jef Lambeaux (who lived at Grote Markt 44), it depicts the legend of Antwerp's name.
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Centraal Station
One of the city's premier landmarks is the extraordinary Centraal Station, designed by Louis Delacenserie at the start of the 20th century in a harmonious blend of styles. Steps lead from the main hall with its enormous dome up to the glass-covered train platforms above. The station and adjoining Koningin Astridplein have been undergoing massive works for years to accommodate the Eurostar and Thalys fast trains, thus directly linking the city to London and the rest of Europe. .
The station is also diamond central, with many shops selling diamonds inside the station, and the Diamond District immediately south-west of it.
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Openluchtmuseum voor Beeldhouwkunst Middelheim
Some 4km south of the city centre is a large, landscaped park known as the Openluchtmuseum voor Beeldhouwkunst Middelheim. It contains more than 300 works by sculptors, including notable nationals (Rik Wouters) and influential internationals (Auguste Rodin and Henry Moore).
Don't deny yourself the opportunity to ask a randomly selected passerby how to get to the (take a deep breath now) Openluchtmuseum voor Beeldhouwkunst Middelheim (Middelheim Open-Air Statuary Museum), a large park 4km (2.5mi) south of the centre that is scenically littered with over 300 sculptures, including carvings by Rik Wouters and Auguste Rodin.
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Museum aan de Stroom
The purpose-built multistorey Museum aan de Stroom is located between two docks - Bonapartedok and Willemdok - in the flourishing 't Eilandje district. Architecturally it's a big draw, designed like a modern spiral tower with a panorama platform offering city views. It brings together exhibits of the city's history from its earliest beginnings to recent times.
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Brabo Fountain
The voluptuous, baroque Brabo Fountain rises from a rough pile of rocks in the centre of the Grote Markt. Crafted in 1887 by Jef Lambeaux (who lived at Grote Markt 44), it depicts the legend of Antwerp's name.
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Onze Lieve Vrouwekathedraal
The splendid Onze Lieve Vrouwekathedraal is the largest and finest Gothic cathedral in Belgium. It was 169 years in the making (1352-521) and the work of several architects (Appelmans, Domien and Keldermans). Its graceful 123m-high spire was a mighty landmark in early times and is still visible from kilometres around today.
The combined effects of a fire in the Middle Ages, the Iconoclastic Fury and plundering during the French occupation mean that little of what you see today inside the cathedral is original Gothic. Instead, baroque decorations - notably four early canvases by Rubens - adorn its light but imposing interior.
From the centre of the seven-aisled nave, look s…
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Museum Plantin-Moretus
The World Heritage-listed Museum Plantin-Moretus is home to the world's first industrial printing works. This fascinating museum deals with a prosperous 16th- and 17th-century printing family headed by Christoffel Plantin. Plantin moved from France to Antwerp where he set up as a bookbinder in 1548. Eight years later he started a printing business that eventually became the Low Countries' largest printing and publishing concern and a magnet for intellectuals, scientists and humanists.
On Plantin's death, the business passed to his son-in-law, Jan Moretus, and later to Jan's son, Balthasar, a friend of Rubens.
Some of the family portraits exhibited inside this museum are …
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Rubenshuis
Rubenshuis, the prestigious home and studio of the city's most celebrated painter, Pieter Paul Rubens, it was little more than a ruin when acquired by the city in 1937. Superbly restored along original lines, it's now Antwerp's chief attraction, despite the fact that only a handful of Rubens' lesser works are exhibited here. Rubens built this beautiful Flemish baroque mansion in 1611 when he was 34 years old; he died here 29 years later.
The building is divided in two: on the left are the living quarters and an elaborate art gallery where Rubens displayed sculptures and paintings by artists he admired; to the right you'll see the master's studio where he taught and worke…
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Cogels-Osylei
This area, about 2km southeast of Centraal Station, is famed for the eclectic architecture found in a handful of streets. The showcase is Cogels-Osylei, a bazaar of all possible house styles. Here the city's affluent citizens went wild a century ago, creating competing and highly contrasting façades ranging in style from Art Nouveau and Flemish baroque to neoclassical and neo-Renaissance. Roofs and towers spiked with onion tops or witches' hats, wrought-iron balconies, bay windows, slate tiles, stained glass and mosaics…you name it, this street's got it.
Most of the buildings were constructed between 1894 and 1914 and involved many architects. In the 1960s the houses f…
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Rockoxhuis
The Rockoxhuis is a 17th-century mansion that once belonged to Nicolaas Rockox, a former city mayor and friend and patron of Rubens. It's built around a central courtyard, is furnished in classical Flemish style, and holds a small but esteemed collection of paintings, including works by Rubens, Jordaens, Van Dyck and Pieter Breughel the Younger.
Seek out the latter's Proverbs (De Spreekwoorden in Flemish). This engaging work is no run-of-the-mill village scene - it depicts 108 Flemish proverbs. Find the man bashing his head against a brick wall (ie symbolising stupidity) or the guy peeing on the moon (ie trying to do the impossible). The museum sells a card explaining eac…
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Museum Mayer Van den Bergh
Museum Mayer Van den Bergh occupies a simulated 16th-century townhouse, built in 1904 by the mother of Fritz Mayer Van den Bergh, a prosperous art connoisseur who had died a few years earlier aged 41. His highly prized collection of sculptures and paintings, including works by Quinten Matsijs and Cornelius De Vos, form the core of the museum.
The collection's most famous piece is Pieter Breugel the Elder's Dulle Griet (Mad Meg), an allegorical painting in which a demented woman roams a grotesque war-torn landscape marked by demons and monsters. This is one of Breugel's most Bosch-like paintings and interpretations of its meaning vary - some say it's an allegory of misogyn…
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Nationaal Scheepvaartmuseum Steen
This engaging museum houses model ships, maritime maps and instruments in the gatehouse and front section (which is all that remains) of the 13th-century castle, Steen. Highlights include an intriguing nautical totem shaped like a snake's head and boats from around the world, including an 18th-century coracle or skin boat. Beneath the next-door raised promenade is the museum's open-air collection of river barges, canal boats and De Schelde P905, a 1950's Belgian navy patrol ship.
It's on the foreshore of the River Scheldt to the immediate west of the old centre, within the partly-restored confines of a castle called the Steen that dates from 1200 and is Antwerp's oldest …
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Justitiepaleis
The city's new Justitiepaleis, reminiscent of Sydney's Opera House, will blow away any preconceptions that architecture in Antwerp is all old hat. The work of renowned British architect Richard Rogers, the man behind London's Lloyd's building and Paris' Pompidou Centre, its gleaming sails can easily be seen rising at the end of Amerikalei, down the southern end of 't Zuid. This area has largely been left begging in recent decades, but this flashy new addition has already sparked a real-estate boom.
During its construction in 2005, controversy reigned over its cost - quoted at around €75 million but eventually coming in at around €250 million.
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St Jacobskerk
The tomb of Rubens and his family is the reason most visitors come to St Jacobskerk. Located in a small chapel behind the high altar, the tomb is adorned with a painting, Our Lady Surrounded by Saints, which Rubens executed specifically for his tomb and which is actually a family portrait, with the master as St George and his wives and father the other figures. The church was the place of worship for the aristocracy and is a showcase of their wealth.
Started in 1491, it took nearly 150 years to build and the result is a Gothic façade cloaking mainly baroque embellishments inside.
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Hoge Raad voor Diamant
To get a glimpse of the amount of diamonds (and gold) being traded, just wander along Pelikaanstraat, Vestingstraat or Hoveniersstraat at any time during the day (on Saturday many shops are closed for Sabbath, the Jewish holy day). These high-security streets are also home to important financing banks and the industry's governing body, the Hoge Raad voor Diamant.
Don't expect fanfare or glitz - most of the trade goes on behind discreet, even shabby, façades and in the four beurzen voor diamanthandel (diamond exchanges) dotted along two pedestrianised streets - Hoveniersstraat and Rijfstraat.
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FotoMuseum
Five blocks south of MuHKA and with an excellent reputation is the newly renovated and expanded FotoMuseum. Once again housed in a renovated warehouse, this museum has a huge collection of B&W photographs, old portraits and ancient cameras. One of the highlights is the Keizerspanorama, a huge, motorised, slide-viewing contraption built in 1905 for Antwerp Zoo. In the evening you can take in a golden-oldie film in one of two auditoria. The kitchen of the stunning black-and-white café (also closed Mondays) stays open until 22:00.
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Maagdenhuis
In the 16th and 17th centuries the Maagdenhuis was an orphanage and refuge for girls of poor families. Today it's home to a small art collection. As you enter, note the delicate sandstone carvings of young girls above the archway. Of the museum's exhibits, the most nostalgic items are the playing cards, or identification tokens. These cards were cut in half when girls were brought into the refuge - one piece was retained by the parent and the other kept with the child.
Just down the road from Museum Mayer Van den Bergh.
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St Carolus-Borromeuskerk
This stunning Flemish baroque church was built in 1621 by the Jesuits on one of the city's most beautiful public squares. Much of the church, including the façade and tower, was designed by Rubens. Unfortunately, most of the marble interior and 39 ceiling paintings by Rubens and his colleagues were destroyed by fire in 1718. However, baroque art at its prime can be seen in the small Onze Lieve Vrouwekapel (Chapel of Our Lady), inside to the right of the entrance, which was spared by the flames.
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Stadhuis
Life in Antwerp radiates out from the Grote Markt, a vast, triangular market square and it's presided over by the impressive Renaissance-style Stadhuis. Designed by Cornelius Floris De Vriendt and completed in 1565, the stadhuis' palatial façade is a blend of Flemish and Italian styles, an innovative departure from the standard Gothic architecture prevalent at the time of construction. The commanding gable is topped by a fine gilded eagle and flanked by statues representing wisdom and justice.
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St Pauluskerk
Marking the start of the sailors' quarter, or 't Schipperskwartier, is St Pauluskerk. The proud, white Gothic church (1517) was built for the Dominicans. It suffered over the years due to fires, the latest in 1968 when locals rallied to save the art treasures inside. The baroque interior is resplendent with a stunning procession of wooden confessionals and carvings, altars, a (partly) ancient organ and marble embellishments, as well as paintings by the 17th-century masters and lesser artists.
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Antwerpen Zoo
Antwerp Zoo ranks among the world's oldest. It opened in 1843 during Belgium's colonial heyday - its age is immediately evident by the striking lion and tiger mosaic panels that greet visitors. The 10-hectare park is home to an extremely diverse range of animals; some (such as the penguins) live in state-of-the-art enclosures but others are still in shoddy cages. The zoo is constantly upgrading accommodation and it also has a good reputation for its breeding programme.
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Diamantmuseum
The city's role as a world diamond centre can be explored at the Diamantmuseum. With an English-language audio guide in hand, start on the 3rd floor and let one of seven virtual guides assist in your quest for the perfect stone. The whole thing is very Antwerp - from the sultry fashions worn by the guides to the proud exhibits showing diamond-studded jeans. There's a special 'touch route' for visually impaired visitors.
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Museum Vleeshuis/Klank van de Stad
Due east of the Steen is the striking Vleeshuis, or Museum Vleeshuis/Klank van de Stad. This building, with its red-and-white layered stonework, was the 14th-century headquarters of the butchers' guild. It's now a new music museum, known as Klank van de Stad, home to instruments specifically related to Antwerp. Time a visit with a concert given on one of the old instruments - the tourist office has the schedule.
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