Walking Tour of Antwerp: Day 3

The Belgium guide book I have gives an idea for "a good walk" in Antwerp that I tried to imitate today. It takes you throughout Oude Stad (old town) so I figured that it would also help me get aquatinted to the area of the city where I am staying.

The walking tour starts at the Grote Markt, which I believe I have mentioned before abet in a different name. The Grote Markt is the central of Oude Stad and I found out as I got lost several times throughout the city most roads will lead you to here if you are patient enough. All of the buildings here are from the 16th century or older and most of them guide houses that are emblazoned with gold via what I think is a Renaissance addition to the gothic style of the buildings.

The Steen is a short walk away and is this small little fortress along the river. It is quite quaint and I never would of imagined that it was used for centuries as a prison. The quaintness comes from being build in the 9th century....its more than 1,000 years old, its crazy to think about. The cross that you can see in the picture (not yet added) is also apparently where the prisoners had their final prayers before execution.

Next was the Vleeshuis, a gothic style butcher house from 1501. It has now become a music museum...which is funny because I think the name means like meat house or some such. It makes me laugh to think of what the translation would be. "Would you like to come to the meat house and listen to some music?" Heh. The building now serves to show the musical life of Antwerp and it was quite entertaining to go around and see the many bizarre instruments people played in the old days. For instance, they have this thing called a Serpent, it pretty much was a curved piece of wood with holes...the ancestor of the modern brass instruments. It is hilarious looking and people used to but snake/dragon faces on the end.

My walk ended with the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedral (the Cathedral of Our Lady). Like I mentioned earlier, it is HUGE! The north spire, the one with the clock on it, is 404 feet! It was originally built in 1352 and has a hilarious history of lootings and burnings that I won't bore you with. The cathedral now contains many works by Peter Paul Ruben who painted many religious works for the church. One in particular, The Assumption of the Virgin Mary, was painted for the high alter of the cathedral and so the sun's rays will illuminate Mary at noon.

That was not even one half of the walking tour the book gave but I think I will finish the rest later...maybe. Instead I went to t'Veurleste, a bar next to the cathedral, and had myself a Westmalle Trappist beer. It was really good, more like a cider than a beer, tart and bright.