City Hall

Stadhuis

A Renaissance city hall from 1565, all flags and columns, on the Grote Markt.

Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Klaus with K assumed..., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Cornelis Floris de Vriendt built the city hall between 1561 and 1565, when Antwerp was the richest city of northern Europe. It mixes Flemish and Italian ideas: a long front of columns with a tall decorated middle.

It is a World Heritage site; the flags along its front are those of the countries of the European Union. Visit it in 3D ›

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.

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.

Antwerp handsBiscuits and chocolates in the shape of a hand, after the Brabo legend.