ANTWERP 145

E Museum aan de

Stroom (MAS)

Hanzestedenplaats 19. Tel (030)

2060940. 
         

         10am–5pm Tue–Sun.

         
         

         & 7 http://www.mas.be
         Set in a spiralling building in
         the old docks area just north
         of the historic centre is the
         city’s most innovative project,
         the Museum aan de Stroom,
         (Museum on the River). Due
         to open in 2011, it will com-
         bine artifacts formerly held in
         the Maritime, Folklore and
         Ethnographic museums and
         the Vleeshuis to present a
         portrait of Antwerp’s historic
         relationship with the River
         Scheldt and the world beyond.

         
         

gave Antwerp its name. The

large bronze statue dating

from 1963 at the base

of the ent rance ramp

depicts another legen-

dary local giant, the jovial

rogue Lange Wapper, who

could grow taller at will

and played alarming

tricks on drinkers. Over

the main gate is an old

sculpture of Semini,

Scandinavian god of

fertility – the statue

was once held to be a

talisman for Antwerp’s people.

P Vleeshuis

Vleeshouwersstraat 38–40. Tel (03)

2926100. 
         

         10am–5pm Tue–Sun

         
         

         and Easter Mon. & 7
         There has been a Vleeshuis
         (Meat Hall) on this site since
         1250, but the present hall
         was designed by the architect
         Herman de Waghemakere
         and completed in 1504.
         The struc ture features
         slender towers with
         five hexa gonal
         turrets and rising
         gables, all built

         
         

E Het Steen

Steenplein 1.

Antwerp’s castle, Het

Steen, was built on the

banks of the Scheldt

to protect the town and

con trol shipping.

Although a castle

stood on this site in the

10th century, during

the Viking raids, the

lower section, which

is the oldest part of

the pre sent building,

dates only from the

13th century. Above

that section are

vestiges of the

rebuilding ordered in 1520 by

Charles V. For many cen turies,

until 1823, Het Steen served

as the town’s prison.

Eventually, the whole

edifice underwent

a romanticized

restoration in

the year 1890.

According to leg-

end, the castle was

once home to the

evil giant Druon

Antigoon, who exacted

a heavy toll on shipping

and cut off the hands of cap-

tains who failed to pay him.

He was eventually slain by

the brave Roman soldier

Silvius Brabo, who chopped

off the giant’s hand in turn

and threw it into the River

Scheldt. This handwerpen, or

hand-throwing, is said by one

legend to be the gesture that

The turreted Vleeshuis, formerly the

Meat Hall of the butchers’ guild

ANTWERP

Centraal Station y

Diamond Museum u

Fotomuseum t

Grote Markt 1

Het Steen 4

Koninklijk Museum voor

Schone Kunsten e

Maagdenhuis 8

Modemuseum (MoMu) 6

MuHKA r

Museum Mayer van den Bergh w

Museum Plantin-Moretus 7

Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal 2

Rockoxhuis 9

Rubenshuis q

St-Jacobskerk 0

St-Pauluskerk 5

Vleeshuis 3

R St-Pauluskerk

St-Paulusstraat 22. Tel (03) 2323267.

# Apr–Oct: 2–5pm daily. 8 3pm

Sun and public holidays. 5

Completed in the early 17th

century, this splendid church

displays a mix of Gothic and

Baroque features. The exte-

rior dates from about 1517,

and has an added elaborate

Baroque gateway, while the

interior is noted for its intri-

cately carved wooden choir

stalls. St-Pauluskerk possesses

a series of paintings illustrat-

ing the Fifteen Mysteries of

the Rosary, one of which, The

Scourging of the Pillar, is an

exquisite canvas by Rubens.

There are also paintings by

van Dyck and Jordaens.

VISITORS’ CHECKLIST

47 km (29 miles) N of Brussels.

Road Map C1. * 500,000.

k £ @ 4 n Grote Markt

13; (03) 2320103. ( Grote

Markt (Dec); Theaterplein (Sat

and Sun); Kloosterstraat (Sun).

of light and space owes much

to the seven-aisled nave and

vaulted ceiling. The cathedral’s

large collection of paintings

and sculptures includes three

works by Rubens, of which

two – Raising of the Cross

(1610) and Descent from the

Cross (1612) – are trip tychs.

Lange Wapper

guarding Het Steen

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in alternate strips of stone
and brick. The Gothic
interior holds a museum,
City Sounds, which presents
artifacts from over 500 years
of music in Antwerp.