Antwerp · BE

Grote Markt

The Grote Markt is Antwerp's compact central square, a triangular plaza in the heart of the old city quarter where the Renaissance Town Hall and a row of ornate guildhouses frame a bronze hero mid-throw. It is the postcard image of the city and the natural starting point for exploring everything nearby—from the Cathedral of Our Lady to the banks of the Scheldt. What gives the square its character is the concentration of civic symbols in a small space: the 16th-century Town Hall, the gilded and sculpted gables of the former guild houses, the legendary Brabo Fountain, and a monument to the dockworkers who built Antwerp's port fortune. Cafés and restaurants ring the cobbles, so the Grote Markt works as much as a place to sit and soak up the atmosphere as to tick off sights.