Antwerp City Hall

About

The City Hall (Dutch: ) of Antwerp, Belgium, stands on the western side of that city's Grote Markt (main square). Erected between 1561 and 1565, after designs made by Cornelis Floris de Vriendt and several other architects and artists, this Renaissance building incorporates both Flemish and Italian influences. The building is listed as one of the Belfries of Belgium and France, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In the 16th century, Antwerp became one of the busiest trading ports and most prosperous cities in Northern Europe. The municipal authorities wished to replace the city's small medieval City Hall with a more imposing structure befitting the prosperity of the great port city. The local architect Domien de Waghemakere drafted a plan (c. 1540) for a new building in a style typical of the monumental Gothic town halls of Flanders and Brabant. The threat of war, however, prevented any progress on the project. The building materials intended for the City Hall were instead used to shore up the city's defenses. It was not until about 1560 that new plans were developed. In the meantime, Gothic architecture had gone out of fashion, so the City Hall was designed in the new Renaissance...