21 October 2023 Antwerp

 

21 October 2023        Antwerp

Antwerp is the last stop on our cruise.  It is located on the River Schelde (or Scheldt) and has been a strategic port as far back as the 2^nd century BC.  It was also a trading station within the powerful medieval Hanseatic League. 

Toward the end of WWII, Antwerp suffered sever damage from Germany’s V2 rockets.  After the Allied Operation Garden Market failed in Nijmegen, the Allies realized what a strategic port Antwerp would be to their supply channels.  Led mainly by the Canadians, the Allies began a campaign in September 1944 to gain control of Antwerp from the German Forces.  By then the Germans had mined the estuary leading from the Schelde River.  Finally on 3 November 1944, the Allies, at great loss of life, were finally able to liberate the city and free the river from the German bombs.  However, from the winter of 1944 until April 1945, Antwerp was subjected to a barrage of German V2 rockets resulting in the deaths of over 9,000 military soldiers and civilian.  Because these rockets were essentially quiet and there was no sign of an aircraft, the Allies dubbed Antwerp “The City of Sudden Death.

 In addition to being one of the busiest ports in this area, it is also at the center of the diamond trade industry.  80% of the world’s rough diamonds and 50% of its cut diamonds are traded here annually.  More than 12,000 expert cutters and polishers work in the Diamond Quarter.

 This morning we embarked on a walking tour of the town.  As we were docked quite a distance from the center of Antwerp, a bus took us to Het Steen where we began our walking tour.

Het Steen

 Het Steen (which means ‘the stone’), is located on   the edge of the Schelde River.  Once known as   Antwerp Castle, it is one of Antwerp’s oldest   buildings, thought to have been built around 650 AD   from clay and mud.  The Castle became part of the   stone wall fortifications that surrounded Antwerp in   the 9^th century to protect the city from Viking   raiders   and control access to the Schelde River.   Over the years Het Steen became a prison and a   customs house until it was turned into a museum in   the 1950s and later transformed into the Tourist   Information Center and the Cruise Terminal.  Much  of the original complex to include the oldest church in Antwerp was demolished in the 19^th century so that the quays could be straightened to prevent the Schelde River from silting up.  At the entrance to the castle is a statue of the giant Lange Wapper, believed to have terrorized the citizens of Antwerp during medieval times, and two humans standing at his feet.  More about Lange Wapper and his legend below.

 From the photo stop at the Castle, we walked down the street to the Vleeshuis Museum, with its late Gothic façade, which was once the Butcher Hall, a former medieval guild hall – the oldest trade guild in Antwerp.  The building you see today was built in 1250.  Only 52 butchers were allowed to sell meat here and there is some evidence that the guild also served as a slaughterhouse.  Today the building is a Music Museum

 On this building and many others in Antwerp was a statue of Mary holding baby Jesus.  According to a legend, there was a giant named Lange Wapper who was renown for his bizarre mischief.  One such act was to disguise himself as a baby and sneak into homes and steal breast milk from nursing mothers.  To thwart Lange Wapper, the townspeople, knowing that Wapper hated the town’s patron saint Mary, affixed statues of Mary on the outside of their buildings.

Very close to the Vleehuis Museum we saw part of the old city walls.  Today that wall is being used as a side to a building.

Vleehuis Museum-Old Butcher's Hall

Part of the Old City Walls

Statue of Mary on a Building

 From the museum we walked to Grote Market, the center of the old city quarter.  Dating back to the 16^th century, it was once the commercial hub of the city.  Today it is a beautiful square surrounded by the Town Hall on one side and many guildhalls with stunning facades (now shops and cafes) on the opposite side.  Most of these, however, are reconstructions done in the 19^th and 20^th centuries from paintings that had been done by Flemish artists.  The city’s Town Hall or Stadhus was built in the mid-16^th century in a Renaissance style and its façade is adorned with sculptures and gilded details.  Today it is still the administrative center of the city.  The square is a favorite place for the locals to relax and enjoy the many cafes and the beauty of the architecture.

In the center of the square is a large fountain with the statue of Brabo, the local, mythical hero of Antwerp.  Legend has it that a giant controlled the waterway in Antwerp and demanded a high toll from those who wished to enter the city.  Those failing to meet his demands had their hands cut off.  Brabo heroically fought the giant and cut his hands off and threw the giant into the River Scheldt.

 

Brabo Statue

Guild House in Grote Market

Town Hall

Spire of Cathedral of Our Lady

From Grote Market we walked to St. Charles Borromeo Church, perhaps the most important Baroque Church in the Netherlands.  Built by the Jesuit order between 1615 and 1621, it is the church in Antwerp that was influenced the most by Flemish Painter Peter Paul Rubens.  His contributions included decorations on the façade, ceiling, and the top of the steeple.  There were also 39 ceiling paintings by Rubens.  Unfortunately, all the paintings were lost in a fire in 1718 when lightning struck the roof. 

It was rebuilt and today the main altar's apse and Mary's chapel, bear testimony to the church’s former glory with its many sculptures and the elaborate wooden carvings.  In 1773 the Jesuit Order was disbanded by the pope and in 1779 it was rededicated to Saint Charles Borromeo. 

Today the church has one original painting by Rubens, “The Return of the Holy Family,” on display in the Chapel of St. Joseph.  Mary’s Chapel on the right side of the church (dedicated to the Virgin Mary), is beautifully decorated with marble, paintings of her life  and sculptures. Above the altar is a copy of Rubens “The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.” The ceiling relief in stucco was also designed by Rubens. 

A unique feature of this church is the original, functioning mechanism of pulleys and slots above the main altar that is used to switch the large painting that hangs over the altar – there are four paintings that can be switched three times throughout the year – Easter Monday, Ash Wednesday, during the Night of the Churches in August.

It is truly an amazingly beautiful church.

St. Charles Borromeo's Church

Statue of Virgin Mary

St. Joseph's Chapel-Rubens "The 
Return of the Holy Family"

High Altar in the Church

St. Mary's Chapel

Walking back toward the Cathedral of Our Lady, our guide took us through cute little alleyways with beautiful old homes and restaurants.   During the walk our TL pointed out a brass plate of a scallop shell in the cobblestone street.   This was a marker for the many people who take the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage each year.  Also known as the “The Way of Saint James,” it is a series of routes (or ways) that pilgrims follow, usually from their homes, to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain.  Tradition says that the remains of the saint are buried there.  Many pilgrims follow these routes as a form of spiritual path or retreat for their spiritual growth.  There are many routes located throughout Europe and North Africa.  The brass shell plaques are used as markers to guide the way.  The scallop shell, often found on the shores in Galicia, was used as it has long been the symbol of the Camino de Santiago.  During the Middle Ages the routes were highly travelled.  Today it is also popular with hiking and cycling enthusiasts and organized tour groups.

Quaint Little Alleyways

Quaint Little Alleyways

Water System in an Old Restaurant

Scallop Shell Plaque

Our last stop was the 14^th century Cathedral of Our Lady, a Roman Catholic church that towers over Antwerp with a very high spire.  The Cathedral is the largest Gothic structure in Belgium with the tallest spire (404 feet).  Today it houses a number of paintings by the Belgium painter Peter Paul Rubens, who was raised and died in Antwerp.

In front of the Cathedral is a marble statue of a boy and his dog who froze to death based on the 1872 novel A Dog of Flanders by British author Marie Louise de la Ramée.

Basically this is a story of a poor orphaned boy named Nello and his faithful companion Patrasche, an abused dog that Nello nursed back to health.  Nello lived with his grandfather and worked delivering milk.  He dreamed of becoming an artist like Rubens and entered a drawing contest in Antwerp.  His grandfather died several days before Christmas, and Nello and his dog went to Antwerp to see if he had won the contest.  He had not and he was overcome with sadness which only Patrasche was able to comfort him.  Snow was beginning to fall just before midnight. Desperate he went to the Cathedral where he entered the open doors and saw the paintings of Rubens for the first time in his life.  It was here at the Cathedral that Nello and his faithful dog Patrasche died together.  This story so resonated with the Japanese that they donated the statue to Antwerp.

Cathedral of Our Lady

Nello and Patrasce Monument

There was a long line waiting to enter the Cathedrale (you have to pay to see the Ruben paintings) so Bill and I just enjoyed a leisurely stroll back to where the bus was waiting for us.  Returning to the ship, it was time to pack and get ready for dinner.

Beach Bar & Surf Club-A Little 
Taste of Hawaii

Flavors of India Restaruant

Street with Beautiful Old Homes

In the evening, we gathered for one last time for the Captain’s Farewell Drink and Dinner.  Our cruise has come to an end (time seems to go so much faster now – it seems like only yesterday I was beginning to plan for this trip.)  Although the cruise has ended, Bill and I still have one more stop to make before flying home.  Tomorrow we will be heading to Ghent to spend several days exploring that city.  But tonight, we must say goodbye to our fantastic Trip Leader, the crew of the River Harmony, and the friends that we made on board.