Antwerpen Hotels for Shopping

Antwerp is an amusingly beautiful city, which due to its cultural and historical places of interest takes a special place among the other cities and towns of Benelux. In the centre of Antwerp one can find a great number of museums and architectural sights. The most considerable museum of Antwerp is The Royal Museum of Fine Arts. The Antwerp Cathedral is concerned to be the most magnificent and fascinating building. Most of the places of interest are located in the centre and it's easy to visit all of them on foot, so it's not a surprise that Antwerp is so popular with tourists. More than that, if you get tired of walking, you can easily find a place for having some rest on one of the numerous coffee terraces of Antwerp. Antwerp is attractive not only with its historical places. The harbor in this city can easily be called universal. Antwerp also takes the leading role in the sphere of diamond processing and sale.

The Cathedral of Our Lady. The spectacular tower of the Cathedral of Our Lady, the highest cathedral tower in Benelux, is seen from far away. It's 123 meters tall and it's located in the very historical centre of the city. The first stone of this gothic cathedral was laid in the 14th century and only when two centuries passed the work was finished. The cathedral was built on the place of a Romanesque church. Only when in the 80s archeological dig was carried out, the specialists got an idea, how the previous church looked like. Unfortunately, almost nothing is left from the former interior. In the 16th century at the time of Iconoclastizm, the Calvinists destroyed windows, pictures, relics, burial-vaults and dozens of altars. From the original decoration remained only some frescos and the image of Madonna, which was made from marble of the 15th century. The interior of the cathedral was recreated from the very beginning, and it makes the cathedral so special: in the cathedral decoration absolutely different styles are used: gothic, baroque, rococo, Renascence and neo-gothic. In the cathedral 4 paintings of a world-famous artist Peter Paul Rubens are kept (2 diptychs: 'The Descent from the Cross' of 1612 and 'The erection of the Cross' of 1609-1610), 'Ascension of Virgin' of 1626 and 'Resurrection of Christ' of 1612. The stained-glass windows, which concern biblical plots, look as fabulous, as the altars. At the main altar one can see 'The Death of Virgin' by Abraham Mattissense.
Read more: guide to Antwerpen with maps, photos and weather conditions.

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