Even if you did not intend to include the Antwerp City Hall in your itinerary, you will still pay attention to it as this impressive sight is located in the historic city center, on the Great Market Square (Grote Markt). This significant architectural monument is a sight to behold.

The Antwerp City Hall was one of the first buildings in Northern Europe, built during the Renaissance heyday. It was designed by the Dutchman Cornelis Floris, who loved to combine elements of Italian Mannerism and Dutch Gothic in his monumental works. Cornelis Floris was also the author of the Great Market Square. Both works demonstrated the master's favorite technique in all its glory and made their creator one of the brightest representatives of the Northern Renaissance in architecture. The City Hall, as the earliest and most famous work of Floris, became a classic monument of the Flemish architecture of the 16th-17th centuries. It had a great influence on future similar constructions in many other cities of Northern Europe.

The four-story building with countless windows and arches is almost eighty meters high and is topped by a gabled roof. Its magnificent facade is adorned with columns and coats of arms of the great noble families that had a significant impact on the city development. Other decorations include a monument to the patroness of Antwerp, the Virgin Mary, and female sculptures of Justice and Prudence, which are placed in special arched niches.

Despite all the amazing architectural details of the City Hall, the first thing you notice is the abundance of flags of world powers on the facade. They are there almost all year round, making the building even more vivid and attractive.

When the doors of the Antwerp City Hall are open to visitors and guided groups, residents and tourists can also enjoy the magnificent interiors, styled on the antiquity and the Middle Ages.