The fountain, which is also located at the square, is decorated with the image of a Romanian soldier Salvius Brabo. The monument of the soldier is connected with a legend about the origin of the name “Antwerp”. Once upon a time a giant called Druon Antigoon lived on the bank of the Scheldt. He demanded an excessive fare from sailors, who sailed across the Scheldt. The sailors, who couldn’t or didn't want to pay, had their hands cut off by the giant. Salvius Brabo called the giant, overpowered him and, as a symbol of his victory, cut off his hand and threw it into the river, just like Druon Antigoon did with other sailors. So, as the legend says, the name Antwerp goes from “handwerpen” – “to throw a hand”. Scientists also suppose that the name goes from the word “de aanwerp” – “sandbank”.
Antwerp museums. Antwerp is a real paradise for museum lovers. The Royal Museum of Fine Arts is the place where one can see not only thousands of works by old school masters (among which you can see, for example, pictures of Flemish primitives), but also approximately 1500 works by modern authors. By the way, this museum is the place that exhibits the biggest and the most beautiful collection of pictures by Rubens. The Museum of Modern Art (Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen – MUHKA) mainly exhibits the works of Belgian artists of the 60s of the previous century.
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