DIAMOND CITY
Antwerp is a underrated gem of a city
Just over 2 ½ hours on the Eurostar from Saint Pancras, Antwerp is an overlooked gem that shines as brightly as the diamonds it’s famous for. Precious stones have been traded here since the fifteenth century, and by the nineteenth century, with the influx of Jewish immigrants, attracted by the city’s liberal attitudes, Antwerp had become the global centre of the diamond trade. Even today about 85% of all the world’s rough diamonds pass through the handful of streets which make up the diamond district. Originally the exclusive preserve of the Jewish community, traders now include Indians, Africans and Lebanese, and kosher establishments stand side by side with curry houses and Middle Eastern restaurants. You can pick up the perfect stone at Belgium’s biggest diamond showroom at Diamondland (Appelsmannsstraat 331, diamondland.be).
Even more so than diamonds, Antwerp’s jewel in the crown is its magnificent late 19th century Central Station, which dominates the city. You can fly in to Antwerp – it has its own small airport with direct connections to London-City and Manchester – but that would mean missing the cathedral-like magnificence of the railway station with its elaborately sculpted carvings and marble pillars towering towards the vast cupola over the waiting hall that gives even the great dome of London’s Saint Paul’s a run for its money. It’s an awe-inspiring way to enter the city, even for the most jaded traveller, and it’s hardly a surprise that Newsweek magazine named Antwerp-Centraal the fourth most beautiful railway station in the world, after London’s Saint Pancras, Grand Central in New York and Chhatrapati Shivaji in Mumbai. For a little city – Antwerp’s population is little more than 500,000 – it’s a sign that it likes to think big, something the locals will insist on telling you with a pride which could almost be bordering on arrogance until you realize that they actually do have a point.
Leaving the railway station takes you into the city’s main retail area and Meir, a wide, traffic-free boulevard and the most expensive shopping street in the country. On Meir and the streets wandering off it you’ll find all the top labels as well as tiny boutique shops and patisseries , and also the neoclassical magnificence of the Stadsfeestzaal (Meir 78), once the city’s festival hall and now a temple to consumerism, worth visiting just for the breathtaking architecture and its gold-plated ceiling alone. This year, during Antwerp Pride, and the World Out Games which were held in the city, rainbow flags bedecked the whole length of the street and much of the rest of the city.
Just off Meir is the house of Peter Paul Rubens, Antwerp’s most famous son (Rubenshuis, Wapper 9 – 11, rubenshuis.be). The 17th century Baroque painter designed the house himself and lived and worked here for 25 years with his family. Entered through a stately main porch way then into an elegant inner courtyard, its 18 rooms are furnished much as they would have been in Rubens’ day and masterpieces from the artist and his contemporaries adorn the walls.
Just around the corner stands the Palace in Meir (Paleis op de Meir , Meir 50), the former royal palace of at various times Napoleon, William I of the Netherlands and the Belgian Royal Family. It’s an imposing example of Rococo architecture, and, following a thorough renovation, has been open to the public since 2010.
The ground floor of the palace, also open to the public, now houses The Chocolate Line (Paleis op de Meir 50, thechocolateline.be). They like their chocolates in Antwerp and this is quite probably one the best chocolate shops in the world. Chocoholics will think they’ve died and gone to heaven. Selfstyled shock-a-latier Dominique Persoone serves up exquisitely hand-crafted chocolate creations according to traditional methods, as well as in a variety of quirky flavours such as wasabi, cola, and even fried onions (which shouldn’t work, but somehow does) . This is where the fine art of the chocolatier meets rock ’n’ roll, and where the Rolling Stones were introduced to the gastronomic joys of snorting cocoa, rather than what they might normally sniff. You can buy a custom designed chocolate shooter for just that purpose here as well as chocolate-flavoured lipstick. The spirit of The Chocolate Line might be trendy and irreverent, but there’s no denying that their confections are made with genuine love and dedication. These really are some of the best chocolates in the world.
Meir links the station to the Grote Markt, the heart of the old city. This pedestrianised open space is dominated by the City Hall, 17th and 18th century guild houses in the Renaissance style, and the massive 19th century Brabo Fountain commemorating Antwerp’s legendary hero who killed a marauding dragon and threw its hand into
the nearby Scheldt river. The Dutch for hand is “hand” and throw is “werpen” and so that’s how the city got its name. With its street cafés, bars and restaurants, the Grote Markt and the immediate area is a great place for peoplewatching but really comes into its own on warm summer nights. Over on the Melkmart the Café DeLux (Melkmarkt 18, cafedeluz.be) pulls in a buzzy gay and gay-friendly crowd, which often spills over into the Café Pelikaan next door.
Traditional effigies of the Virgin Mary adorn many of the corners of the lovingly preserved buildings in the old town, while nearby rises the great Cathedral of Notre Dame (Handschoenmarkt, dekathedraal. be), a UNESCO World Heritage site and the largest Gothic structure in the Netherlands, whose spire at 123 metres easily surpasses that of its Parisian rival, a fact the locals are never slow to remind you. The cathedral contains several works by Rubens (Antwerp’s museums and churches possess a total of 52 of his masterpieces on permanent display) and a climb to the top of the tower gives you a fantastic view of the city. On a clear day you can even see Brussels, 56 kilometres away.
Branching off from the Cathedral are several narrow and winding streets, including the Vlaeykensgang, a tumbledown and atmospheric alley, looking almost as it might have done in the 16th century. Away from the hustle and bustle of the Grote Markt, perhaps sipping the local De Konink brew in a secluded courtyard, you could be forgiven for thinking you’ve slipped into a painting by Breughel.
Yet for all the picture perfection of its historic
“Sipping the local brew in a secluded courtyard, you could be forgiven for thinking you’ve slipped into a painting by Breughel”
city centre, Antwerp is firmly looking to the future, and, as with all port cities, this regeneration is happening around the old docks, just a twenty-minute walk from the old town. Het Eilandje, or the “islet”, is the site of Antwerp’s oldest dock, a stroll away from the red light district of the Schipperskwarter, or seamen’s quarter, and is rapidly becoming one of the coolest areas of the city, its waterfront edged by former warehouses turned into trendy eateries.
The MAS – the Museum an de Strom, or Museum on the River – is the symbol of 21stcentury Antwerp, constructed, it seems, out of oversized red Lego bricks. No fusty museum, it’s the hip centre of today’s Antwerp, and if you don’t want to look at the more than 470,000 exhibits over five floors tracing the city’s history, you can visit the ninth-floor roof terrace and its spectacular views over the city especially at night or dine at the double Michelin-starred ’t Zilte (tzilte.be), although be prepared to wait six weeks to get a table. From the fifth floor you can also look down on Dead Skull, a huge mosaic incorporated into the square facing the MAS, and the work of Luc Tuymans, Antwerp’s greatest living artist.
The MAS has recently been joined by the Red Star Museum (Montevideostraat 3, redstarline.be) which opened in September this year, and follows the story of the 2.6 million people from Europe who set sail from Antwerp to seek fortune in the USA.
Yet wandering around the cobbled streets of the old town, or sipping cocktails in one of the stylish bars by the docks, it’s hard to see what made them leave Antwerp in the first place.