Antwerp City Hall fills the western side of the Grote Markt with a long Renaissance facade built in 1561–1565, when Antwerp was one of the richest ports in northern Europe. Its mix of Flemish and Italian ideas was so new that it became a model for town halls from The Hague to Emden. The building is part of the UNESCO World Heritage listing of the Belfries of Belgium and France.
Antwerp City Hall at a glance
- Where: on the west side of the Grote Markt, the main square of Antwerp's old town, facing the Brabo Fountain.
- Built: 1561–1565; gutted by fire in 1576 and restored a few years later; interior remodelled in the 19th century and renovated again until 2022.
- By: Cornelis Floris de Vriendt, working with several other architects and artists.
- What it is today: the seat of the city government, with a ground floor open to the public and the grand first-floor rooms shown on guided tours.
- Time needed: 15 minutes for the facade and square; about an hour and a half for a guided tour inside.
From the Spanish Fury to a new entrance
In the 16th century Antwerp was booming, and the city wanted a town hall to match. Around 1540 the architect Domien de Waghemakere drew plans for a Gothic building, but the threat of war stopped the project and its stone went into the city's defences instead. By the time work began in 1561, Gothic had gone out of fashion, and Cornelis Floris designed the building in the new Renaissance style. It was finished in 1565 and lasted barely a decade before the Spanish Fury of 1576, when mutinous Spanish troops sacked the city and burned it to a shell. It was restored within three years.
In the 19th century the architects Pierre Bruno Bourla, Joseph Schadde and Pieter Jan August Dens largely remade the interior, roofing over the open inner courtyard, and leading local history painters decorated the halls. The most famous is the Leys Hall, with murals by Henri Leys showing key moments in Antwerp's history. A renovation of almost four years ended in June 2022, when the building reopened with a new public entrance from the Grote Markt.
What to look for
- The arcaded ground floor: the low stone arches once housed small shops, whose rents helped pay for the building.
- The column orders: Doric and Ionic columns frame the big windows on the two main floors, with an open gallery running along the top storey.
- The central section: it rises above the roofline in diminishing stages, like a giant gateway, and holds statues of Justice, Prudence and the Virgin Mary.
- The coats of arms: below the statues, the arms of the Duchy of Brabant, of King Philip II of Spain and of the Margraviate of Antwerp.
- The flags: a row of flags usually hangs across the facade, adding colour to the grey stone.
Brabo in the niche
The statue of the Virgin Mary was not the first figure in the central niche. It originally held a statue of Brabo, the legendary hero who, according to Antwerp's founding legend, cut off the hand of the giant Druon Antigoon and threw it into the river Scheldt. During the Counter-Reformation, Brabo was replaced by the Virgin. He returned to the square in 1887, as the bronze figure on the fountain right in front of the City Hall.
Tips for your visit
- Stand at the far side of the Grote Markt, behind the Brabo Fountain, to fit the whole facade into one view.
- Book a guided tour if you want to see the Leys Hall, the Wedding Hall and the Council Chamber on the first floor.
- Come back after dark, when the facade and the guild houses around the square are lit up.
Nearby
- Brabo Fountain: Jef Lambeaux's bronze fountain of Brabo throwing the giant's hand, right in front of the City Hall.
- Cathedral of Our Lady: the Gothic cathedral with its tall spire and paintings by Rubens, a couple of minutes' walk away.
- Het Steen: the medieval riverside castle on the Scheldt, a few minutes' walk west.
- Plantin-Moretus Museum: the house and printing workshop of a 16th-century publishing family, a UNESCO World Heritage site, about ten minutes on foot.
See Antwerp with World City Trail
Our Antwerp scavenger hunt turns the old town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around 3 hours, with about 44 minutes of walking. The City Hall is one of the stops, along with Antwerpen-Centraal station and the Cathedral of Our Lady.
If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Antwerp.
Play the Antwerp scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Antwerp →
Play the outdoor escape game in Antwerp →
Facts checked in October 2026.