Antwerp › Places and landmarks
Antwerp hands
Antwerpse handjes
Biscuits and chocolates in the shape of a hand, after the Brabo legend.
Antwerpse handjes are butter biscuits with almonds, and chocolates too, in the shape of the hand that Brabo threw into the Scheldt. They go back to a baking competition of 1934, won by the Antwerp baker Jos Hakker.
Every bakery and chocolate shop in the centre sells them.
More in Antwerp
Grote MarktThe square of the city hall and the guild houses, with the Brabo fountain in the middle.
Brabo FountainThe Roman soldier Brabo throwing the giant’s hand away: the legend behind the city’s name.
City HallA Renaissance city hall from 1565, all flags and columns, on the Grote Markt.
Cathedral of Our LadyThe largest Gothic church in the Low Countries, its spire 123 metres high, with four Rubens altarpieces.
Het SteenThe oldest building in Antwerp, a castle on the Scheldt from the Middle Ages.
VleeshuisThe Gothic hall of the butchers’ guild, striped in brick and white stone.
GroenplaatsThe square at the foot of the cathedral, with a statue of Rubens in the middle.
Plantin-MoretusThe house and workshop of a great printing firm, with the two oldest printing presses in the world.
MeirAntwerp’s great shopping street, lined with palaces and department stores.
RubenshuisThe house and studio where Peter Paul Rubens lived and painted from 1610.
DiamondsAntwerp has traded and cut diamonds since the 15th century; most of the world’s rough diamonds still pass through it.