About 50 km north of Brussels, Antwerp, Belgium’s second city, owes its very existence and prosperity to the River Scheldt. The historic centre, built around the country’s most impressive cathedral, is as beautiful and intimate as it was centuries ago with hundreds of restaurants and bars tucked away in cobbled lanes and backstreets amidst antique shops, art galleries, and designers boutiques. From the medieval riverside fortress to modern waterfront creations this city is something of an architectural museum, most distinctive its gothic and Flemish baroque architecture : Antwerp was the home of Pieter Paul Rubens, northern Europe’s greatest baroque artist. Rubens created most of his masterpieces at his home and studio in the centre of the city – a building that showcases his life and can still be visited. Museums and churches around the city display some of his most acclaimed works.

Pieter Paul Rubens
Pieter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) was Belgium’s most influential artist in the early 17th century. His paintings fused Flemish and Italian influences and his enormous canvases, with their glowing colours and animated forms, are baroque masterpieces.

Rubens was born in Germany in 1577 after his parents fled Antwerp due to religious turmoil. When his father died a decade later, the family returned to Antwerp where Rubens started painting – by the age of 21 he was a master in the Antwerp Guild of St Lukas. From 1600, and for the next eight years, he traveled extensively in Italy and Spain , soaking up the rich Renaissance art and architecture. In 1610, back in Antwerp, he painted The Descent from the Cross, one of his masterpieces, displayed today in the city’s cathedral, Onze Lieve Vrouw. Establishing his studio in his private house, he proceeded to paint portraits of Europe’s royalty and a series of grand religious canvases. Rubens’ works are dotted around Antwerp ,including the cathedral, Fine Arts Museum, Rockoxhuis and St Jacobskerk. and are also superbly exhibited in Brussels’ Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts.

Diamonds
Antwerp is the second largest European port after Rotterdam, the home town of Rubens, and above all the diamond capital of the world.
Diamonds have been processed in Flanders since the 15th century when rough stones from India were crafted in Bruges. The decline of Bruges meant the rise of Antwerp which, despite various slumps over the centuries, is now the worldwide diamond capital. Concentrated in the diamond district, a large city block near the railway station, more than 2.500 companies employ more than 30.000 people in this industry. About 80 % of the international trade in uncut stones and 55% of cut diamonds change hands in Antwerp but don’t expect luxurious shops and glamorous atmosphere, the trade goes on behind discreet façades at Pelikaanstraat and Vestingstraat.
The city’s role as a world diamond centre can be explored at the new Diamantmuseum

Fashion shopping in Antwerp
The success of Antwerp as a celebrated fashion hub means it’s a paradise for shoppers. The tourist office produces a booklet entitled Antwerp Fashion Walk, proposing five walks in the city that take the visitor past all the best designer shops and store and also provides biographies of the leading figures of the city’s fashion industry. Most famous are "The Antwerp Six", six designers all of whom graduated from the Royal Academy in the early eighties.: Dries Van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester, Martin Margiela, Walter Van Beirendonck, Dirk Van Saene and Dirk Bikkembergs, Between them they have made Antwerp a regular stopping-off place for the fashion world between Paris and London. They have been followed by new waves of designers, including Kaat Tilley and An Vandevorst, Bernard Willems, and Raf Simmons.