Reading the guildhouse gables

The guilds were associations of craftsmen and merchants—powerful in the Middle Ages until they were abolished under French rule in 1796—and their former meeting houses still line the square. The trick is to look up: the statues and gilded figures crowning each gable usually point to the trade, or to its patron saint.↗

On the north side, the tall, flame-shaped gable of the archers' house is topped by Saint George battling a dragon, and its neighbours show a coopers' patron clutching an axe, an angel, a leopard rearing on its hind legs, an eagle and a fox. On the south side, the house known as "Rodenborch" keeps a 13th-century cellar beneath a 17th-century Baroque front, while the former clothworkers' weigh house displays a gilded figure holding a scale—a nod to its old role of weighing goods. Even if you only catch a few of these names, the row of sculpted gables is one of the most decorative market fronts in the Low Countries.↗

Brabo, the hand and the fountain

The bronze figure at the centre of the square is the city's most beloved legend in metal. Jef Lambeaux's fountain, erected in 1887, shows the mythical hero Silvius Brabo hurling a severed hand into the air. According to the story, the giant Druon Antigoon demanded a toll from ships passing on the Scheldt and cut off the hands of those who refused; Brabo defeated the giant and threw the hand back into the river, an act remembered as the origin of the name "Antwerp" ("hand werpen", to throw a hand).↗↗↗

Town Hall and the Dockworker

Dominating one end of the square is the Stadhuis, Antwerp's City Hall, built between 1561 and 1565 in Flemish Renaissance style on the foundations of an older hall that had burned. Its façade is lavishly ornamented and often hung with the flags of countries that maintain a consulate here. Beside it stands a quieter monument: Constantin Meunier's bronze of a young stevedore, a dockworker created in 1885 and unveiled on the square in 1950 as a tribute to the labourers who kept the port running.↗↗↗

At street level

The Grote Markt is ringed with restaurants and cafés, making it an easy place to linger with a drink or a meal while you watch the square go by. One of the guildhouses, De Mouwe, is home to the Antwerp Jazz Club, so live music is part of the atmosphere after dark. In winter the square becomes a Christmas market with an ice rink, one of the city's most festive settings.↗↗

Its central position means the best sights are a short walk away: the soaring spire of the Cathedral of Our Lady is close by, and the Scheldt riverfront is within easy strolling distance, so the Grote Markt makes a natural hub for exploring the old quarter on foot.↗↗

Visiting

As an open public square, the Grote Markt can be visited at any time of day, and it is at its most lively from late morning through the evening when the terrace cafés fill. The nearest tram stop is Groenplaats, served by several lines and only a brief walk away.↗

Go early if you want the fountains and gables without crowds for photographs; go in the evening if you would rather enjoy a drink under the lit guildhouse fronts. Either way, take a minute to read the statues atop each building—it is the small details that turn a quick photo stop into something more memorable.