What to do · Antwerp
The Grote Markt, the town hall and the Brabo fountain
Information
- Price
- Free
- Duration
- 30 min
- Season
- All year; in December, Christmas market
- Who it's for
- All ages
- With a dog
- On a lead, around the square
Antwerp's main square, with guildhalls with gilded facades and the sixteenth-century Renaissance town hall. In the centre, the Brabo fountain: a Roman soldier hurling the severed hand of the giant who charged tolls on the river, the legend that gives the city its name ("hand werpen", to throw the hand).
Around it
Two minutes away are the cathedral and the Vrijdagmarkt, where the Plantin-Moretus museum reopens, and five minutes away the Steen, the castle beside the Scheldt. The streets between the square and the river are the oldest.
Tips
- The hands of Antwerp In the confectioners' shops in the centre they sell biscuits and chocolates shaped like a hand.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Brabo fountain?
The statue on the Grote Markt that tells the legend of the thrown hand that gives Antwerp its name.
With young childrenAs a familyWith a dog
