Antwerp | Belgium - One Day Trip


So, here goes my post on our short one day trip (more of a walking tour) to Antwerp. Well, I must say when we stepped into the city my first thought was about my passport which I had once lost long back in the same city. But nevertheless, letting bygones be bygones and hoping to not lose anything this time we stepped into the city.

The moment we got off at the Antwerp central station I must say we were really awestruck. I had read about Antwerp central station being the most beautiful stations in the world architecturally and so it was....literally in the true sense!! And that too a completely modern fully equipped and operational station all tucked away in this centuries old architectural beauty. No wonder it's referred as the cathedral of the European stations!!

The only other central station as beautiful I have seen till date is the Chatrapti Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai, India. But I wonder how many of us actually had paused to admire the beauty of that Victorian Gothic architecture while rushing to work! 


As the history goes of this neo renaissance architecture....somewhere I had read that the then lace makers used to come together at the central hall of the station to showcase their work. Yes, Antwerp is also known for their intricate lace work apart from diamonds! However, the interior and exterior architecture of the station till date has not been able to be attributed to any particular architecture style although it does have a hint towards Roman style! And it only makes me think, in some corner of the world, people travelling to work from this station must be doing so with a smile or an awe and not the usual frown!


Once u move out of the station you see the zoo to your right and a wide street filled with diamonds !! Okay, I mean diamond market!! We didn't venture into the zoo and neither did we whisper a word about it to our 5 yr old :P! But I have heard the zoo is one of it's kind in Antwerp.


The street I guess is referred to as the Meir street, the most expensive shopping street in Benelux. As you walk along the street on the right you see the Royal Palace of Meir. A magnificent architecture built in Rococo design. After being owned by many aristocratic families the palace was also at one time owned by Napoleon who had wanted it to be his own private residence but never really stayed there. The palace today is owned by the Flemish Ministry of Culture and exhibits art collections.

The statue in the center of the square is of the famous artist David Teniers II.

To the right you see another beautiful monument of rococo architecture that is the Osterrieth house.


As you keep walking on the Meir street you see the Inno building next. Another neo Flemish renaissance Rococo architecture with a statue of an angel Elektra on the top. It looks as if the angel is welcoming every pedestrian there. 

Then you stumble upon the Stadsfeertzaal, the luxurious shopping centre and festive gallery housing many events. It's kind of a shopping Mecca of the Meir street. Unfortunately it happened to be closed on the day of our visit and we could not go inside to marvel at the festive hall's achitecture interiors.


As you keep walking the street kind of leads you to the UNESCO world heritage cathedral of Our Lady (Antwerp). The Belfry of the cathedral is listed in the UNESCO world heritage sites for it's height (404 ft). However, this Roman Catholic cathedral built in Gothic style was never completed and is left half built even after 170 years of construction. The envisaged blueprints of the cathedral had one more tower which was never built. Also, like many other monuments in Europe even this cathedral had gone through a rough history and still survived. Somewhere I had read that the largest bell in this tower is so big that it needs 16 people to ring the bell. But what strikes you the most is the beautiful depiction of the Judgement day right at the entrance arch in the form of sculpture carvings.

We couldn't go inside as there was a prayer going on inside. So we couldn't get a glimpse of all the Ruben made paintings inside.


Just around the corner, as you follow the road signs you reach the Grote Markt. Again, unfortunately the UNESCO world heritage listed city hall (Stadhuis) was completely covered for restoration work. So, we could not see it.

However, the Brabo fountain with the statue of the brave Silvius Brabo compensated our disappointment in full. As he stood towering tall over the beautifully sculptured statues upholding him as he threw the severed hands of the notorious giant (who used to trouble the sailors for toll) into the river Schelde. Supposedly, the name of the city Antwerp translates to handwerpen in Flemish which is what this statue depicts.



The Grote Markt at one side is lined with elaborate then Guildhalls which are now cafe's and restaurants.

In the below snap you can see the cathedral of Our Lady in the background from Grote Markt square.



Now here, we were a bit confused as to which direction should we go. As both directions that is left of the Guildhalls and right of the Guildhalls seemed too good to explore. So, first we decided let's explore in one direction (that is the lane beside the city hall) and then we can come back to explore the other.

As we kept walking, it seemed more like we were intruding into a residential complex and we were half in mind if we should walk back. But, the whole area was so beautiful with those crimson red bricked buildings amidst the cobble stoned pathway that somehow we kept walking. At the other side of this residential area we found this museum Vleeshuis (Meat House) which looked like a Gothic architecture church but turned out to be a former guildhall. The layered red bricks supposedly denote layers of meat....difficult to believe!


The snap below is one of the pathways with a clear sign written of former Guildhalls. 


Below snap is the front view of the museum Vleeshuis which I really thought was a Church.

The Guildhalls were built there as this was closest to the river Scheldt. Below snap is the pathway leading to the river.

As we walked along the river the first thing to see was the castle Het Steen which was again covered for restoration work. Supposedly the castle was earlier a prison and is now converted to a museum. It is one of the oldest monuments in Antwerp and is in ruins.

We kept walking straight till we reached this old pilot station with a statue of Brabo on the top of the monument. This pilot station was to guide the captains of the second largest ports of Europe.


From there following the signs on the road and walking straight along the river side we reached the MAS Museum Aan de Stroom. We didn't go inside the museum though. It is the largest museum in Antwerp and stores exhibitions on the art and cultural and historical artefacts of the city.

From this point we started walking back towards Grote Markt when we saw a road sign leading the way to the Roman catholic St. Paul's church. The church is open for very short time in the afternoons and that too not on all days. So we only admired the Gothic plus Baroque architecture from outside.


After this we walked back to Grote Markt and went to explore the other direction that is the lane running opposite to the City Hall. That lane led us to St. Charles Borromeo Church (Baroque style church)  and Conscience square (named after the writer Hendrik Conscience). The old city library can also be seen on one side in the square. 


By the time we were done with all the architectural marvelling we were hungry. And how could we leave Belgium without having their famous fries. It seems there was a fight between Belgium and France on who owned the potato fries and if this story was true then the fries were all the more to be the first thing to be tried out!!


So, after some Belgian fries and burger we had to finish our lunch with the world famous Belgian waffles.....and what best than to try the Belgian waffles with the Belgian chocolate sauce... The best two in one combo that could be imagined! 


Our next place to walk to was Plantin Moretus Museum which is the only museum on UNESCO world heritage list and is a printing and publishing house dating back to 16th century. 


Then we went searching for Ruben house which we somehow missed while walking on the Meir street. 





This was the last thing we could see before running back to central station to catch our bus back home. We somehow missed seeing one church in Antwerp and that is St. Jame's church which contains the remains of Ruben.....and that will remain as a disappointment!

But all in all it was a day well spent exploring the rich culture and architecture of the diamond city Antwerp :)!

Comments

  1. Your photos are gorgeous! I'm impressed, this is a wonderful place! Thanks for sharing.
    Belgium is definitely on my bucket list.

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  2. Very interesting piece of travelogue....informative, supplemented with nice images, and the flow inspires the reader to quickly sail to the end....best regards

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much for your encouraging words sir

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