Cities & Landmarks

Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, the Grand-Place, the coast tram and the carillons — the places that built the Belgian self-image.

Part of Belgium

42 moments in this segment.

1. 1100-01-01 — Bouillon Castle. Godfrey of Bouillon’s Ardennes fortress — a medieval crusader stronghold over the Semois.
2. 1100-01-01 — Dinant. The Meuse-side town clinging to a cliff under its citadel — birthplace of the saxophone.
3. 1180-01-01 — Gravensteen, Ghent. The Castle of the Counts — a moated medieval fortress in the middle of Ghent.
4. 1200-01-01 — Tournai Cathedral. The five-towered UNESCO cathedral of Belgium’s oldest city.
5. 1200-01-01 — Graslei (Ghent). The medieval guild-house quay on the Leie — the postcard heart of Ghent.
6. 1227-01-01 — Dinant — Collégiale & Citadel. The bulbous church spire under the cliff on the Meuse — the postcard of the Ardennes.
7. 1240-01-01 — The Belfry of Bruges. The leaning medieval bell-tower over the Markt — and the "In Bruges" film’s climactic stage.
8. 1245-01-01 — The Béguinages. The serene walled courtyards once home to lay religious women — UNESCO-listed across Flanders.
9. 1300-01-01 — The Belfries of Belgium. The UNESCO-listed civic belfries — medieval symbols of municipal freedom across Flanders and Wallonia.
10. 1300-01-01 — The Markt of Bruges. The gabled guildhouses and the belfry over the great market square — the picture-postcard heart of Bruges.
11. 1304-01-01 — The Cloth Hall of Ypres. The medieval merchant hall flattened in WWI and rebuilt stone by stone.
12. 1331-01-01 — Durbuy. Billed as "the smallest city in the world" — a tiny Ardennes stone village turned getaway.
13. 1380-01-01 — The Doudou of Mons. The Ducasse — a UNESCO festival pitting St George against a wicker-and-rope dragon in the main square.
14. 1380-01-01 — Ghent & its Belfry. The dragon-topped belfry and the Graslei waterfront — Ghent, a medieval powerhouse turned hip city.
15. 1394-01-01 — The Carnival of Binche. The Gilles in wax masks and ostrich-plumes throwing oranges — a UNESCO masterpiece of living folklore.
16. 1400-01-01 — Bruges (Brugge). The medieval canal city, "Venice of the North", frozen in 15th-century amber and now a tourist icon.
17. 1469-01-01 — Leuven Town Hall. A wedding-cake of late-Gothic stonework — and the university city around it.
18. 1520-01-01 — St Rumbold’s Tower, Mechelen. The unfinished cathedral tower and carillon capital — Mechelen, the bell-ringing heart of Belgium.
19. 1521-01-01 — Cathedral of Our Lady, Antwerp. The tallest Gothic spire in the Low Countries — home to Rubens’ altarpieces.
20. 1521-01-01 — Cathedral of Our Lady, Antwerp. The Gothic cathedral with Rubens altarpieces — the spire over Antwerp’s skyline.
21. 1546-01-01 — St. Rumbold’s Tower, Mechelen. The unfinished giant tower whose 49-bell carillon trained Europe’s bell-ringers.
22. 1565-01-01 — The Pajottenland. The rolling lambic country west of Brussels — Bruegel’s landscape, made real.
23. 1640-01-01 — The Citadel of Namur. The great fortress above the Sambre-Meuse confluence — heart of Wallonia’s capital.
24. 1695-01-01 — The Grand-Place. Brussels’ UNESCO-listed central square — guildhalls, gold leaf, and the biennial Flower Carpet.
25. 1700-01-01 — Spa — The Original Spa Town. The Walloon town whose healing springs gave the world the very word "spa".
26. 1700-01-01 — Spa — The Original "Spa". The Ardennes water town whose name became the global word for a thermal resort.
27. 1826-01-01 — The Lion’s Mound. The great earthen pyramid topped by an iron lion, marking the field of Waterloo.
28. 1847-01-01 — Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert. Europe’s grand 1847 shopping arcade in Brussels — glass-roofed elegance.
29. 1880-01-01 — Parc du Cinquantenaire. The triumphal arch and museums built for Belgium’s 50th anniversary — Brussels’ grand gesture.
30. 1883-01-01 — Palace of Justice, Brussels. Poelaert’s colossal 1883 courthouse — for decades the largest building of the 19th century, perpetually under scaffolding.
31. 1885-01-01 — The Kusttram (Coast Tram). The world’s longest tram line, running the entire 67 km Belgian North Sea coast.
32. 1893-01-01 — Hôtel Tassel — Victor Horta. Horta’s 1893 townhouse — the birth of Art Nouveau architecture.
33. 1900-01-01 — Ostend — Queen of Belgian Resorts. The sea-front of the "Queen of the Belgian seaside", beloved since the Belle Époque.
34. 1900-01-01 — The Semois Valley. The misty meandering river of the deep Ardennes — Belgium’s most romantic landscape.
35. 1900-01-01 — The Caves of Han. The vast Ardennes cave system carved by the river Lesse — a natural wonder of Wallonia.
36. 1900-01-01 — The Belgian Coast Resorts. Knokke, De Panne, Blankenberge — the cabines, dijk and waffles of the North Sea summer.
37. 1905-01-01 — Antwerp Central Station. The "Railway Cathedral" — one of the most beautiful train stations in the world.
38. 1911-01-01 — Stoclet Palace. The 1911 Vienna-Secession mansion in Brussels with Klimt friezes.
39. 1950-01-01 — The Mardasson Memorial. The star-shaped American memorial at Bastogne — gratitude carved into the Ardennes.
40. 1957-01-01 — The High Fens (Hautes Fagnes). The wild upland moor near the German border — Belgium’s highest, bleakest landscape.
41. 1958-01-01 — Bokrijk Open-Air Museum. The living museum of historic Flemish buildings — Belgium’s rural past, reassembled.
42. 2010-01-01 — Hallerbos — The Blue Forest. The bluebell carpet that turns a forest near Halle electric-violet for two weeks each spring.