Antwerp
City of Rubens and the northern Baroque
Antwerp's moment of artistic glory came in the early seventeenth century, when it was home to Pieter Paul Rubens - the creator of the northern Baroque style and one of the wealthiest, as well as most influential, artists of his day.
Our audio tour of Antwerp explores the medieval origins of the city as well as acquainting you with some of Rubens's great paintings, and a church which he had a hand in designing. You'll also see the building where Christoffel Plantijn founded his publishing 
house - one of the greatest presses of the day, which used Rubens as a designer for the title pages of many of its books.
You'll also see something of the commercial wealth on which the city was founded - the immense Butchers' Hall, in a brick and stone mix that looks like streaky bacon, sums up the wealth of the guilds.
Podtour of Antwerp
Price: £5
Other podtours nearby:
Mechelen - former capital of the Burgundian duchy
Other things to see in Antwerp
- Take the St Anna foot tunnel under the river to the other bank for a fine distant view of the city. The tunnel entrances are fine Art Deco buildings - well worth noting. For the best view, take your trip towards sunrise or sunset.
- Visit the new Palace of Justice - a fine piece of modern architecture with its sail-like roof, by Richard Rogers. Its glass, metal and wood construction makes it transparent - very different from the weightiness we usually expect of law courts.
- Get acquainted with Belgian beer at one of the fine bars. The best three in Antwerp are all on a single axis; the Waagstuk in the north of the city, the Kulminator with its 500-beer menu in the south, and my personal favourite, the family-run Oude Arsenaal in the middle, opposite the Rubenshuis. (By the way, if you hear the word 'Bolleke' in one of these bars it's not rude - it's simply the Antwerp vernacular for a glass of the local De Koninck beer.)
- Take a trip to the northern part of the old city for a different feel. This is the old port area, and you can see industrial buildings including the Brewers' House on AdriaanBrouwerstraat, with its sixteenth century water pumping mechanism still in place, the 1950s International Seamen's House on Falconrui, and the Reniassance Hessenhuis - originally a bonded warehouse.
- Visit the diamond district. It's rather understated - but you'll notice the security guards. 80 percent of the world's diamonds come through Antwerp.
- For a more contemporary approach to Antwerp - now a major centre of deign and fashion - visit MUKHA, the museum of modern art, in a converted grain silo at Leuvenstraat in the south of the city. Or MoMu, the fashion museum, with ever-changing theme exhibitions taken from its stock.
- To relax, visit the Begijnhof, ten minutes' walk from the station. Beguines - women who had taken temporary vows - lived here in a spiritual community, and the small houses and peaceful garden still reflect the simplicity of Beguine spirituality. Watch out for the cats that treat the gardens as their personal playground.