Tram to old city center. The big museums are closed on Mondays but we wandered around the old city and saw plenty. The huge Cathedral dates back to the Middle Ages, but the artwork has been pillaged and plundered repeatedly so what is there is mostly excellent 17th century Flemish baroque paintings and statues , including some iconic Rubens paintings. We really enjoyed looking at it and spent a couple hours there. After lunch on the main Square we walked a few blocks to the Church of st. Charles Borromeo , a Jesuit Church built in the 1600's. The Jesuits were suppressed in this area at one point and the Habsburg Emperor's grabbed the best art and took it to the end up where it still is. More recently the Germans stole everything in sight but fortunately they kept good records and the belgians were able to reclaim the art after the war. The church is being restored and we were able to see a couple of art restorers at work.
While making our way to the waterfront to see a maritime museum , we stopped at another Baroque Church, Saint Pauls. Again, spectacular artwork. Any of these churches alone would make Antwerp worth a visit to anyone who loves art.
We did reach the Maritime Museum, but it is associated with the large Mas art museum next door which was closed today. Even so we were able to see a beautiful collection of old boats through the fence. The Mas is in the Steen castle , parts of which date back to the ninth century. Even though the museum was closed we were able to walk through part of the castle.
Then a tram back to our b&b for a break before dinner.
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