Things to do in Antwerp
Top sights and attractions to build your days around once you know when to go.
Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal
The Cathedral of Our Lady is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Antwerp, Belgium. Today's seat of the Diocese of Antwerp started in 1352 and, although the first stage of construction was ended in 1521, has never been fully completed. It was constructed in the Gothic style by architects Jan and Pieter Appelmans. It contains a number of significant works by the Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens, as well as paintings by artists such as Otto van Veen, Jacob de Backer and Marten de Vos. The cathedral is the largest Gothic church in Belgium, with its tower rising 123 meters (404 ft) over the city.
Museum Plantin-Moretus
The Plantin–Moretus Museum is a museum in Antwerp, Belgium which showcases the history of printing in Antwerp and the prominent role played in that history by the family of printers founded by Christophe Plantin and Jan Moretus in Antwerp in the second half of the 16th century. It is based in a building on the Vrijdagmarkt in Antwerp that served as the residence of the Plantin-Moretus family and the location of the printing company, the Officina Plantina, for four centuries. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2005.
Olympisch Stadion Antwerp
The Olympisch Stadion or Kielstadion was built as the main stadium for the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp. For those games, it hosted the athletics, equestrian, field hockey, football, gymnastics, modern pentathlon, rugby union, tug of war, weightlifting and korfball (demonstration) events. Following the Olympics it was converted to a football stadium. Its current tenant is K Beerschot VA, a Belgian football club. There are no remnants of the Olympic athletics track.
Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp
The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp is a museum in Antwerp, Belgium, founded in 1810, that houses a collection of paintings, sculptures and drawings from the fourteenth to the twentieth centuries. This collection is representative of the artistic production and the taste of art enthusiasts in Antwerp, Belgium and the Northern and Southern Netherlands since the 15th century.
Rubenshuis
The Rubenshuis is the former home and workshop of Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) in Antwerp. Purchased in 1610, Rubens had the Flemish townhouse renovated and extended on the basis of designs by Rubens himself. After the renovations, the house and its courtyard garden had the outlook of an Italian palazzo, which reflected the artistic ideals of Rubens. The ensemble is now a museum dedicated mainly to the work of Rubens and his contemporaries.
Bosuilstadion
The Bosuilstadion is an association football stadium in the city of Antwerp, Belgium. The stadium was opened in 1923 and has been the home of Royal Antwerp ever since. It has a capacity of 21,000, of which 800 are indoor VIP seats. It is located in the district of Deurne.
Antwerp City Hall
The City Hall of Antwerp, Belgium, stands on the western side of that city's Grote Markt. Erected between 1561 and 1565, after designs made by Cornelis Floris de Vriendt and several other architects and artists, this Renaissance building incorporates both Flemish and Italian influences. The building is listed as one of the Belfries of Belgium and France, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Antwerp Zoo
Antwerp Zoo is a zoo in the centre of Antwerp, Belgium, located next to the Antwerpen-Centraal railway station. The zoo is the oldest animal park in Belgium, and one of the oldest in the world; it was established on 21 July 1843.
Museum aan de Stroom
The Museum aan de Stroom is a museum located along the river Scheldt in the Eilandje district of Antwerp, Belgium. It opened in May 2011 and is the largest museum in Antwerp.
Het Steen
Het Steen is a medieval fortress in the old city centre of Antwerp, Belgium, one of Europe's biggest ports. The surviving structure was built between 1200 and 1225 as a gateway to a larger castle of the Dukes of Brabant which was demolished in the 19th century. As the first stone fortification of Antwerp, Het Steen is Antwerp's oldest building and used to be part of its oldest urban centre. The words "Het Steen", translated from Dutch mean "the rock" in English, although that is not the equivalent etymological meaning.
Museum Mayer van den Bergh
Museum Mayer van den Bergh is a museum in Antwerp, Belgium, the collection of which is based on the vast collection of the art dealer and collector Fritz Mayer van den Bergh (1858–1901). The majority of the art works and objects are from the Gothic and Renaissance periods in Belgium, including paintings by Pieter Brueghel the Elder.
Carolus Borromeuskerk
St. Charles Borromeo Church is a Roman Catholic church in central Antwerp, Belgium, located on the Hendrik Conscienceplein. It was built in 1615–1621 as the Jesuit church of Antwerp, which was closed in 1773. It was rededicated in 1779 to Saint Charles Borromeo. The church was formerly known for 39 ceiling pieces by Peter Paul Rubens that were lost in a fire when lightning struck the church on 18 July 1718.
Places from Wikidata and Wikipedia.
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