Antwerp’s museum of one man’s collection shut on 27 April 2025 for a renovation that reunites it with his childhood home. Dulle Griet has moved a few doors down Lange Gasthuisstraat.
Author: Emma
Our podcaster-in-chief, Emma, has lived in Antwerp for over a decade and knows the city inside and out. With her finger on the pulse of Antwerp’s cultural scene, she’s the one to turn to for the latest happenings.
The Schipperskwartier, where Antwerp drew a line round its red-light district
Antwerp first told its prostitutes where to work in 1403. By the 1990s the Schipperskwartier had more than 240 windows in seventeen streets; after a residents’ petition the city confined them to three.
Het Steen: Antwerp’s oldest building is now its front door
Het Steen was built between 1200 and 1225 and served as a prison until 1827. Since its contested new wing opened in 2021, more than two million visitors have come through the door.
The Boerentoren, a farmers’ bank tower waiting for its crown
The Boerentoren went up on the Schoenmarkt in 1931 and 1932, 87.5 metres of art deco for a farmers’ bank. Katoen Natie bought it in 2020, and Daniel Libeskind is adding a crown.
The St Anna tunnel still crosses the Scheldt on wooden steps
Since 1933 the St Anna tunnel has carried walkers and cyclists 572 metres under the Scheldt, 31 metres down. Most of its 3.5 to 4 million users a year still take the wooden escalators.
The Rubens House shuts its doors and opens a new one on Hopland
Rubens’s house on the Wapper is closed until 2030 at the earliest. Since August 2024 the visit starts in a new building at Hopland 13, with a garden of 22,000 plants and a library of 100,000 publications.
Museum Plantin-Moretus: 450 years of printing on the Vrijdagmarkt
Christophe Plantin moved his presses to the Vrijdagmarkt in 1576, and the city bought the whole firm in 1876. Closed for renovation since August, the museum reopens on 5 December 2026.
The Vlaeykensgang: the 1591 alley saved from a car park
Behind a door at Oude Koornmarkt 16, Antwerp’s Vlaeykensgang has twisted between about ten houses since 1591. The city wanted a car park; in 1969 Axel Vervoordt bought the houses instead.
Groenplaats: Antwerp’s old churchyard waits for its trees
The Groenplaats was the cathedral’s cemetery until Joseph II banned burials in 1784. From spring 2027 the square is to be dug up again, for 50 new trees and a bicycle store for 400 bikes.
Antwerp’s Grote Markt, where the town hall turned to face its square
Antwerp’s Grote Markt was given to the city in 1220. Its town hall dates from the 1560s, its Brabo fountain from 1887, and most of its guildhalls are younger than they look.