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Antwerp ...
Antwerp is the largest city in Flanders. Besides the many historical
buildings that are reminiscent of the city's heyday in the 16th century, Antwerp
boasts a lively shopping and entertainment scene as well as many cultural
attractions. The city is also known for its diamonds, fashion and
Flemish artists such as Rubens and van Dyck, of whom many works can be admired
in the local museums.
- MAS - Museum Aan de Stroom (Museum at the river)
MAS is a municipal museum housed in a modern tower at a prominent site
located along the river Scheldt between two docks. The museum focuses on the
city's storied history, from the early Middle Ages to today.
Construction of the tower was completed in 2010 and the museum opened to the
public on May 17, 2011.
- Cathedral of Our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal)
Built between
1352 and 1521 as one of the world's tallest buildings (123 meters),
Antwerp's majestic cathedral still dominates the
city's skyline.
In 1352, construction was begun on a new Our Lady’s church which would
become the largest Gothic church in Belgium. In the beginning, it was to be
provided with two towers of equal height. In 1521, after nearly 170 years,
the new church of Our Lady was ready, but the south tower reached only as
far as the third string course and never reaches the original intended
height.
- Plantin-Moretus Museum
The Plantin-Moretus Museum is a printing museum which focuses on the work of
the 16th century printers Christophe Plantin and Jan Moretus. In 1555,
Christoffel Plantin released his first book. In less than twenty years,
Plantin's publishing house had become the top in Europe. After Plantin's
death in 1589, his business was expanded and modernized by his son-in-law
Jan Moretus and his children, who are also responsible for the magnificent
seventeenth-century courtyard. The printing offices,
workshop, library and printing room have all been preserved in their
original state. The Plantin-Moretus Museum possesses an exceptional
collection of typographical material. Not only does it house the two oldest
surviving printing presses in the world and complete sets of dies and
matrices, it also has an extensive library, a richly decorated interior and
the entire archives of the Plantin business. The live demo of the
printing process was quite interesting and we were given a souvenir of a
freshly printed page
(although I can't read what it is ...).
- Rubens House (Rubenshuis)
The Rubens House (Rubenshuis) is the former home and studio of Peter Paul
Rubens (1577–1640) in Antwerp. Although almost all of the works Rubens
and his pupils created in the Rubens House have been dispersed over major
museums across the whole world, there is still an impressive collection well
worth the visit. Rubens spent most of his lifetime in this palace.
After his death, the house was sold in 1660. The city bought the
house in 1937, and after an extensive restoration the Rubenshuis was opened
to the public in 1946. Dozens of paintings and artworks by Rubens and his
contemporaries were installed in the rooms, as well as period furniture.
- Antwerp Central Station
The Antwerp Central Station is one of the
world's most impressive railway stations. Dubbed the 'Railway Cathedral', it
is one of the main landmarks in Antwerp. The railway station was
built between 1895 and 1905 and replaced a wooden train station built in
1854. During World War II, severe damage was inflicted to the
train hall by the impact of V-2 bombs. In the mid-twentieth century,
the building's condition had deteriorated so far that its demolition was
being considered. The station was closed on 31 January 1986. An
extensive restoration of the Central Station and the vault, which started in
1993 was completed 16 years later, in 2009. At the same time the station
was expanded with an additional entrance, a shopping center and two
lower-level platforms, including one for high speed trains.
- Hotel Diamonds and Pearls
Hotel Diamonds and Pearls is a stylish and atmospheric boutique hotel,
located in an old townhouse from 1865, in the shadow of Cathedral of Our
Lady. We had a small room on the 2nd floor with a private balcony.
The room was reasonably decorated with some antique feeling. Luckily
we were on the 2nd floor so we only needed to carry our luggage through the
extremely narrow steep stairs for one floor.
- Great Market Square (Grote Markt)
The Grote Markt is probably best
known for the beautiful houses
of the Guilds which align the square. Those buildings are relatively
new. The original houses were destroyed in the fire of 1576. They were
rebuilt in Flemish Renaissance style, but were revamped again in the
nineteenth century. Note the beautiful statues on top of the Guild
buildings.
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