March 11 : Antwerpen, België
Remember : you can click on the pictures to see a bigger version.  Who knows, there might even be a surprise waiting behind one of those 'doors'.

Antwerpen, like Oostende, is in Flanders, so I am using the Dutch name.  België is the Dutch name for Belgium.  Antwerpen is known as Antwerp in English, and as Anvers in French.
 

In addition to the cool statue in the foreground, you can see here the north tower of the Cathedral of Our Lady.  This was the first time I experienced having to pay to walk through a church.  Original!  Click on the picture for more...
This is het Stadhuis (the Town Hall), constructed betwen 1561 and 1565 in a 'Flemish-Italian renaissance style', so called because of the influence of its collaborating architects.  In 1576 it was set afire by Spanish soldiers, but by 1579 it had been rebuilt.
De Steen is about 800 years old and is now home to the National Maritime Museum.  Click on the picture for more...
I took this picture of some of the guild houses on the main square, or 'de grote markt' in Dutch, not only for their stepped gables and gold emblems representing the wealth and power of the various guilds, but also for the very blue sky that day which was indicative of more spring-like days to come...a welcome change here in Belgium.



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This page was created by David M. Rojas and last updated on Monday April 05, 1999.