Old Town
The Vibe
Magnificently Flemish — Rubens' city in its full grandeur, with Gothic cathedrals, guild house façades, the world's largest diamond market, and a café culture that makes Brussels seem reserved by comparison
Description
Antwerp's old town is dominated by the Grote Markt — the central market square surrounded by ornate guild houses rebuilt in Flemish Renaissance style after the Spanish Fury of 1576 and the Brabo Fountain (depicting the legend of Antwerp's founding). Immediately west, the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal — the Cathedral of Our Lady — rises 123 metres as the tallest Gothic church in the Low Countries, containing two Rubens triptychs of extraordinary quality. Antwerp's old town also contains the Rubenshuis (Peter Paul Rubens' own house and studio, now a museum), the Plantin-Moretus Museum (the 16th-century printing house, a UNESCO World Heritage Site), and the Steen fortress — the oldest standing building in Antwerp, recently converted into a visitor center on the Scheldt waterfront. The diamond quarter (Diamantwijk) begins immediately east of the historic center around Antwerp Central Station — the most beautiful railway station in Belgium — where the largest diamond exchange in the world operates from a cluster of streets.
Neighborhood Stats
Popular With
- culture-seekers
- art-lovers
- city-break
- history-lovers
Key Attributes
- historic
- flemish-heritage
- cultural
- grand
- diamond
Food Scene
De Groote Witte Arend (Reyndersstraat 18) for Flemish classics in a historic courtyard. 't Fornuis (Reyndersstraat 24) for traditional bourgeois Antwerp cooking. Balls & Glory (Wolstraat 16) for the Belgian meatball institution. Café Den Engel (Grote Markt) for the classic grand café experience.