Explore Antwerp

About Antwerp

Antwerp keeps two identities running in parallel and somehow makes both work. On one side it's Belgium's port city — the second largest in Europe — and the global capital of diamonds, with around 84% of the world's rough stones still passing through its discreet, security-heavy Diamond District a few blocks from the Centraal Station (itself a cathedral of a railway terminal, often called one of the most beautiful in the world). On the other, it's a fashion city: the Royal Academy's 'Antwerp Six' — Dries Van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester, and their classmates — put Belgian design on the map, and the MoMu fashion museum and the Modepaleis still anchor a serious independent scene. The historic core revolves around the Cathedral of Our Lady, holding four major Rubens altarpieces (Rubens lived and painted in the city; his restored house is a few streets away). Walk down to the river for the medieval Het Steen fortress and the dramatic MAS museum, then drink an old Trappist or a sour kriek in a brown café on the way back.