Belgium: 2025

As my European adventure was winding down, I spent about eight days in Belgium, visiting four main cities, all in the northern (Flemish, predominantly Dutch speaking region) half of the country. While Antwerp was my favorite, I thoroughly enjoyed Brussels, Ghent, and Bruges as well.

Four days in Antwerp, the second largest city in Belgium (pop ~560,000), the capital of Antwerp province, and home of the second busiest harbor in the world (after Rotterdam). It is located along the river Scheldt, which flows north into the North Sea; it is well positioned to be a transportation hub into western Europe and beyond.

The Antwerp Central Station, often called the Railway Cathedral because of its incredible beauty, at night, near where I stayed

St Salvator's Cathedral, a UNESCO "Belfries" World Heritage Site. UNESCO designated 55 Belfries in Southern Belgium and Southern France as World Heritage Sites because they symbolize the change of European towns governed by church bishops and priests to towns governed by elected civilians.

Belfries of Belgium and France - UNESCO World Heritage Centre - https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/943/

Antwerp City Hall, another site included in UNESCO's "Belfries of Belgium and France" listing

The Brabo Fountain in the Main Square. It tells the legend of how the city came to be called Antwerp. Druon Antigoon was a monster who cut off the right hand of anyone who refused to pay his costly toll for using the Scheldt River. Brabo, a Roman hero, had a duel with Antigoon, killed him, and cut off Dragoon's right hand The statue depicts the moment Brabo hurled the severed hand into the Scheldt. The legend goes that this accounts for Antwerp's name. The claim is that the name Antwerpen is a combination of the Dutch words "(h)ant" (hand) and "werpen" (throw or launch). Probably not factually accurate, but a wonderful origin story, and one that has spawned hundreds of hands on display all over the city!

Statue of Lange Wapper at Het Steen. Lange Wapper ("tall / long prowler") was a legendary shape shifting mischief maker and trickster who was especially interested in tormenting and frightening drunks, bullies, and little boys and girls. Any scary sight or sound could be attributed to Lange Wapper, who could shape shift from his normal gigantic self into a kitten or puppy, a child, a sick old person, even a priest or a beautiful woman. Anything to draw his intended victims toward him, where he could then torment and frighten them, sometimes even scaring them to death! He was said to have a laugh like the devil, and eventually this became his weakness. The people of Antwerp decided he could not stand to be near Mother Mary, and any house with her statue in or on it was considered "protected." Hence the hundreds of statues of Mary, and even a cathedral in her name, can be found in Antwerp. Read more about it here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lange_Wapper

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/lange-wapper-statue

https://abookofcreatures.com/2015/06/01/lange-wapper/

The MAS, the Museum aan de Stroom (Museum on the Stream), a ten story Art Museum that is also an architectural gem!

Had a one day visit to Bruges from Antwerp. "Bruges" translates to "pier" or "wharf," a clue to its role in shipping and trade historically. Visited a Concert Hall, joined a walking tour, and had a canal tour of the well preserved medieval part of town. Above, the UNESCO listed Bruges City Hall Belfry, part of a collection of Belfries in Belguim and France

Belfries of Bruges, from the Concert Hall rooftop

Guild Halls on the Grote Markt (Main Market Square), Bruges

Canal in Bruges

Spent an in interesting day in Ghent, the fourth largest city in Belgium (pop ~ 280,000). Focus was on history and architecture; did a self guided (AI assisted) walking tour and a canal tour. One of the most interesting tops was a visit to The Krook, the Central Public Library in Ghent, above. It was designed to resemble a stack of books. The horizontal lines represent pages. Krook means "the bend" in dutch; it was named for the bend in the river where it is located

www.Dekrook.be

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Krook

Ghent cityscape from de Krook

The 14th century Belfry of Ghent, a UNESCO listed bell tower

This pressroom had eight printing presses running at one time..., back in the 1700's! Another UNESCO site, this one noting the importance of printing presses and the extremely well preserved condition of this one, in Antwerp. A fascinating place!

Had a fun two day visit to Brussels, pop ~200,000, capital of Belgium, headquarters of the European Union and NATO, and home of some of the best chocolate, waffles, and beer in the world! Pictured above are Guild Halls on the Grote Markt (Big Market), Brussels. Each trade guild (weavers, carpenters, masons, blacksmiths, etc) had their own "union headquarters" on the city square, and from those locations, wielded their influence on city politics and economic issues

The Royal Palace of Brussels, a working (not a residential) palace. The monarchs do official work from this building

The Place du Luxembourg, home of the European Parliament, in Brussel

A fun visit to a park filled with models (miniatures) of iconic buildings in each of the EU countries and the UK. It was an enjoyable experience for me to start getting some closure from the past eight weeks, and to be reminded of more places I have yet to visit. I photographed most of the builds; they were mostly between 6 and 10 feet tall, and they were quite nicely done! The craftsmanship was impressive, and many of the models had some amount of movement in them, such as boats, trains, and cars moving around