Antwerp – fashion and diamonds, just love it!
Despite its ups and downs in the past, today Antwerp appears as a modern city but full of charm, totally rebuilt under every point of view. It offers many attractions and possibilities to tourists and citizens and is known as the city of diamonds and fashion.
Antwerp is considered the capital of diamond processing and this is why it is also known as Diamondland. In its great diamond center, the Antwerp World Diamond Centre, there are 1500 companies and 4 Diamond stock markets. According to historical tradition that has lasted over 500 years, in the Antwerp Diamond Center is produced the famous quality label ‘Cut in Antwerp’, one of the major guarantees in the processing of diamonds.
Not far from Central Station, in the Jewish quarter, in a maze of narrow streets lined up with precious stones shops, The Diamond Museum explores every aspect of this precious treasure, from the processing to trade. You can admire valuable collections and sometimes the luckier ones, or by appointment, can also see the diamond professionals at work in their laboratories. In the Diamondland Showroom it is said that, besides being guaranteed, prices are also ‘popular’!
Another key element in the life of the city is fashion. As Milan and New York, Antwerp, too, is a capital of “fashion” and boasts the presence of a very important academy for fashion designers: “the Flanders Fashion Institute,” located in “Nationalstraat”, one of the busiest streets of the centre. On the opposite side of the road boutiques and trendy shops polarize the attention of thousands of tourists interested in shopping in Antwerp.
Worthy of note are “Kammenstraat” and especially “Meir“: free from city traffic noise, Meir today offers tourists numerous shopping opportunities but also many cultural opportunities: take a look at the beauty of the historic buildings overlooking it, with the Osterrieth-house on the top of the list.
On a side street of Meir street, do not miss a visit to Rubenshuis, the house inhabited by the famous Flemish painter Rubens, where you can admire the works of the artist’s private collection.
However, Antwerp has also several monuments of great historical and cultural value, among these we find the ‘Grote Markt’, the main square, surrounded by impressive buildings, or Groenplaats (Green Square), famous for its literary cafés, bars and restaurants all interspersed along its perimeter. Always on the edge of the square we also find the Cathedral of Antwerp, declared a Unesco World Heritage Site.
Be enchanted by the most fashionable city of Belgium, where stately Art Nouveau mansions, neo-Renaissance villas and ancient medieval castles mix with fashion’s trendy and modern styles and the indomitable allure of diamonds.
About the Author
Andrea Guerriero Hi, I'm Andrea, a travel blogger, web programmer, seo apprentice and amateur photographer based in Milan. I love reading, I love music. I love to travel but only if I leave on a mission! I've been traveling through most of Europe and I love writing about it. I love photography, especially as a way to document experiences, places, events. My Nikon D300 camera is always with me, and it helps me in sharing my life with the rest of the world. Getting in touch with new people, different life styles and foreign traditions, and write about it, is all I can ask for.
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