So with a day to spend in Antwerp, we tried to hit all of the big sites. We started off the day at the Grote Market which is the most colorful and lively part of this northern city.

The statue in the middle of the square is of Brabo, a legendary Roman soldier who freed the city from the giant Antigoon and then threw his severed hand into the river. Sounds like someone needs to be cut off from the fruity beer… Anyway, the statue spills right onto the cobbled square, in other words if this place is ANYthing like the states, you can bet your bottom waffle some shirtless kids will be running through it come summertime. Also in the square is the Stadhuis, or town hall, which is more of an Italian style building sporting flags galore.

Dominating the southeastern corner of skyline is the Antwerp Cathedral, Onze-Lieve, Vrouwekathedraal. It is a very Gothic, massive structure built in 1351 that took over 170 years to build. One recurring theme that Europe will never let you forget is the lasting dominance and wealth of the church. When you look at these grand buildings, one question that always springs to mind is why such extravagant buildings were erected instead of the money going elsewhere. The best answer I have heard to date was at the cathedral in Salisbury. To paraphrase, the volunteer said, people would come in from the countryside or sea and there would be this cathedral dominating the sky. This place of worship was their heaven on earth, as many of these people had never seen anything like this. In our modern age of skyscrapers and urbanity, it is easy to forget that these were the medieval equivalent of the skyline.

In this landmark building are two of Rubens‘ triptychs which are quite famous, The Raising of the Cross, and Descent From the Cross. These paintings depict sad moments but convey quite a lot of energy. In addition, it is always interesting to see how Rubens portrays his characters in such a muscular way in contrast to the pudgy brethren in his contemporaries’ works.

As you make your way through Antwerp, you will discover Rubenshuis, Rubens’ house and studio, the River Scheldt and Het Steen, a castle, that houses a maritime museum which was closed when we were there. You will also find some notable cathedrals and even the “meat house,” Vleeshuis, which was a butchers’ guild house constructed with maroon and beige (were they once white?) bricks so it looks like bacon. This is now a music museum apparently. We didn’t go in.

There is however one church that was not listed in any of the guides we found, but was the surprise of the city for us and turned out to be a favorite, Sint Pauluskerk. It is only open from 2pm-5pm May-Sep, it is free and we sort of stumbled upon it as we ambled through the streets and passed a regulation size open air basketball court.

Sint Pauluskerk is a strange combination of Baroque and Gothic, but what was really grabbing was the courtyard before you entered the church itself. As you can see in the pictures, the statues and their display give a very cinematic feel to the whole area.




Finally, if you need anything else in Antwerp, explore the neo-classical train station which is one of the prettiest we’ve seen so far or walk around in the Diamond District which is just southwest of the station to see scores of diamonds and diamond stores. we were floored at how many in a row there were. This is where many of the Orthodox Jews fled from during WWII to establish the Diamond District in New York.