Antwerp’s Grote Markt is undeniably grand, but can we say more about it than beautiful, magical, many details or must-see? Visitor praise might just as easily apply to Brussels’ Grand Place.
So let's compare with Brussels' Grand Place. Both squares are central to city life, settings for events and popular spots for a drink. But Antwerp’s square is more open, less uniform in architectural style, not entirely car-free—and it feels a bit embedded into city life than its Brussels counterpart.
Reviewers list the key sights: the Renaissance-style City Hall, the Brabo Fountain, the rows of guild houses. Link: https://visit.antwerpen.be/en/grote-markt
This tourist site appears in Nero's comic 'de ring van Balderic' which takes place in Antwerp and shows various other locations (het Steen, the Brabo monument, Lange Wapper, the cathedral, the harbour, ...). Written as a posthumous tribute to Marc Sleen and Nero, the comic has been translated into the Antwerp dialect.
ID #584 on the Belgian tourist map. Within a few hundred meters, the square is surrounded by a host of notable sites.
