31 Facts About Antwerp

Antwerp is on the River Scheldt, linked to the North Sea by the river's Westerschelde estuary.

The Port of Antwerp is one of the biggest in the world, ranking second in Europe and within the top 20 globally.

The Bourse of Antwerp, originally built in 1531 and re-built in 1872, was the world's first purpose-built commodity exchange.

Inhabitants of Antwerp are nicknamed Sinjoren, after the Spanish honorific senor or French seigneur, "lord", referring to the Spanish noblemen who ruled the city in the 17th century.

Antwerp severed the hand of anyone who did not pay, and threw it in the river.

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Antwerp became a margraviate in 980, by the German emperor Otto II, a border province facing the County of Flanders.

Antwerp was the headquarters of Edward III during his early negotiations with Jacob van Artevelde, and his son Lionel, the Duke of Clarence, was born there in 1338.

Antwerp became the sugar capital of Europe, importing the raw commodity from Portuguese and Spanish plantations on both sides of the Atlantic, where it was grown by a mixture of free and forced labour, increasingly with enslaved Africans as the century progressed.

London bankers were too small to operate on that scale, and Antwerp had a highly efficient bourse that itself attracted rich bankers from around Europe.

Antwerp had a policy of toleration, which attracted a large crypto-Jewish community composed of migrants from Spain and Portugal.

Antwerp experienced three booms during its golden age: the first based on the pepper market, a second launched by American silver coming from Seville, and a third boom, after the stabilising Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis in 1559, based on the textiles industry.

Antwerp's banking was controlled for a generation by Genoa, and Amsterdam became the new trading centre.

Antwerp was the first city to host the World Gymnastics Championships, in 1903.

The Siege of Antwerp lasted for 11 days, but the city was taken after heavy fighting by the German Army, and the Belgians were forced to retreat westwards.

Ten-Year Plan for the port of Antwerp expanded and modernized the port's infrastructure with national funding to build a set of canal docks.

Antwerp has an extensive network of synagogues, shops, schools and organizations.

Significant Hasidic movements in Antwerp include Pshevorsk, based in Antwerp, as well as branches of Satmar, Belz, Bobov, Ger, Skver, Klausenburg, Vizhnitz and several others.

The majority live in Antwerp, mostly involved in the very lucrative diamond business.

However, in recent years Antwerp has seen a downturn in the diamond business, with the industry shifting to cheaper labor markets such as Dubai or India.

Antwerp is the focus of lines to the north to Essen and the Netherlands, east to Turnhout, south to Mechelen, Brussels and Charleroi, and southwest to Ghent and Ostend.

Antwerp Central station is an architectural monument in itself, and is mentioned in W G Sebald's haunting novel Austerlitz.

In September 2019 Air Antwerp began operations with their first route to London City Airport with old VLM Airlines Fokker 50's.

Antwerp has an oceanic climate, with cool winters, warm summers and frequent, though light, precipitation throughout the year.

Antwerp had an artistic reputation in the 17th century, based on its school of painting, which included Rubens, Van Dyck, Jordaens, the Teniers and many others.

Antwerp was designated as the World Book Capital for the year 2004 by UNESCO.

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Antwerp is a rising fashion city, and has produced designers such as the Antwerp Six.

Antwerp is the home of the Antwerp Jazz Club, founded in 1938 and located on the square Grote Markt since 1994.

Antwerp held the 1920 Summer Olympics, which were the first games after the First World War and the only ones to be held in Belgium.

Year 2013, Antwerp was awarded the title of European Capital of Sport.

Antwerp hosted the start of stage 3 of the 2015 Tour de France on 6 July 2015.

The University of Antwerp was established in 2003, following the merger of the RUCA, UFSIA and UIA institutes.