Antwerp Gay Travel Guide & Map 2024
Upcoming Events in Antwerp
Accommodation Tip
Located 100 metres from the Antwerpen-Centraal railway station (a must-see!).
Antwerp 2018
About Antwerp
Antwerp is the second biggest town in Belgium, located up north in the Flanders region.
The city has about 500,000 inhabitants, the Antwerp agglomeration about
Because of its seaport it was the richest and most significant commercial town in Europe during the 16th century and furthermore an outstanding cultural center and home of such artists as Rubens and van Dyck.
Despite severe destructions during the two world wars, Antwerp is one of the few cities in Europe whose historical city center was left undamaged to a large extent. Here you can find well-preserved historic monuments and artworks from all ages: from the Late Middle Ages via the Renaissance and Baroque up to Art Nouveau and Art Deco. These include, for example, the Cathedral of Our Lady, St. Paul's Church and the Plantin-Moretus Museum.
In addition, Antwerp is the most important trading center for diamonds worldwide. More than half of the rough and cut diamonds is handled in Antwerp and is dealt with on four diamond exchanges. There are more than 1500 diamond companies and even a diamond museum. The diamond trade in the city has been dominated by Orthodox Jews for hundreds of years, attracted by the religious tolerance in Belgium. Because of the strong Jewish presence, Antwerp is sometimes called the ›Jerusalem of the West‹.
Antwerp was not only the home of many famous artists such as Rubens, but also a very rich fashion culture has developed in the city. It initially began in the 1980s with the now famous ›Antwerp Six‹: six graduates from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, faculty fashion design, among them Walter Van Beirendonck, Dries van Noten and Dirk Bikkembergs. Their avant-garde fashion, which cared little about conventions, caused a sensation und catapulted Antwerp in one fell swoop into the center of international fashion, where it maintains its place down to the present day.