Versterkte stad

Slijkpoort Gate is the northern-most gate of the Spanish ramparts. The outline of the Bastion of Slijkpoort can be traced in the streets above ground level.

The aldermen’s house or Antwerp’s former town hall used to be in the square next to the current town hall until 1565. In 2012, an archaeological survey was organised to find remnants of its foundation.

The “Sas van het Schijn” or lock on the Schijn River is a hydraulic engineering work, which was built in 1818 and was excavated in 2015.

Antwerp has an eight-kilometre underground canal system. The Ruihuis, which is located in Suikerrui, organises guided visits of the canals.

The Red Gate was a city gate in the sixteenth-century Spanish ramparts. Nothing was preserved above ground level.

The house’s name refers to the giant Druon Antigon, who is said to have lived in the fortress during the Roman period and demanded tolls from skippers passing through. He would chop off the hands of those who refused to pay up.

After 1875, the Scheldt quays were re-aligned. The largest part of the fortress city of Antwerp disappeared as a result. This included “Werf” (the wharf) and St. Walpurga’s Church.

There are remnants of the sixteenth-century city wall in Londenstraat and Amsterdamstraat. The line of the wall can be partly seen aboveground in the new design of the street.

Napoleon acquired the palace in 1811, intending to use it as an imperial residence. He would never stay there however. King Albert I resided in the palace during World War I.

In 1903, Antwerp celebrated the centenary of the Napoleonic Decree. The town council built a memorial for this. After a provisional stucco monument, the definitive memorial was inaugurated in 1906.