24 hours in Antwerp: what to see

Antwerp lives in a rare contrast: world capital of diamond trade and birthplace of Rubens, with a Flemish historic center that coexists with one of Europe's busiest ports.

Belgium's second city, it has managed to transform its mercantile heritage into an identity that today also expresses itself in fashion, thanks to the school of designers that became known worldwide as the Antwerp Six.

The Grote Markt is visited first: the central square, surrounded by the guilds' houses with their golden stepped façades, also hosts the Renaissance town hall and the fountain dedicated to the city's founding legend.

A few steps away stands the Cathedral of Our Lady, Belgium's largest Gothic church, which custodies four large altar paintings by Rubens, including the famous Descent from the Cross.

Heading toward the station you cross the Diamond District, where the bulk of the world's precious gem trade concentrates, before reaching the Central Station, considered by many the most beautiful railway station in Europe for its stone and glass dome.

For lunch, venues around the Grote Markt offer mussels and chips, the symbol of Belgian cuisine.

The MAS, the Museum aan de Stroom, is the spiral tower on the Schelda river whose free panoramic terrace offers an open view of the harbour and the city.

The Rubenshuis, the painter's house-museum, preserves the studio and reconstructed garden as he himself would have known them.

With evening, returning to the river, venues around Het Steen, the ancient medieval fortress on the riverfront, remain the most direct destination for dinner, with the illuminated harbour behind you.

Grote Markt, the Cathedral, and the diamond quarter manage to convey Antwerp's mercantile soul, while the afternoon choice between the MAS and the Rubenshuis adds its contemporary or artistic side.

The fashion district around Nationalestraat and a trip to Bruges remain chapters for a second visit. Seeing the gilded facades of Grote Markt reflected in the late afternoon light is perhaps the sharpest memory of Antwerp.