Antwerp

The Norbertines of Tongerlo Abbey erected a moated castle on the site where noble lords and ladies had resided since 1271.

In Antwerp, dozens of kilometres of trenches, parapets and ramparts lie hidden under a thick crust of branches and leaves.

Together with Liège, Antwerp was home to the 1930 World's Exposition, a double exhibition that the Bureau International des Expositions did not recognise.

To defend the nation against foreign attacks, a series of forts were built around Antwerp, Liège and Namur from the end of the nineteenth century. For example, the Defense Line of Antwerp consisted of sixteen larger strongholds in a wide circle around the city, including Fort Breendonk.

The first American oil trickled into Europe via the port of Antwerp in 1863. The Antwerp petroleum industry established itself between the South and Hoboken.

About ten harbour cranes gather along the banks of the Scheldekaai in Antwerp, forming the largest (museum) collection of harbour cranes in the world.

At the end of the 18th century, the Belgian Rupel region counted more than hundreds of brickworks. However, the rise of concrete and mechanization heralded the end of the brick industry in the 1960s.

A military railway line, a dilapidated monument and an anti-tank trenches surround the ruins of the Brasschaat fortress.

A 33-kilometre-long canal zigzags from Stabroek to the Albert Canal in Antwerp. What at first glance looks like a strip of nature was initially intended to hold up German tanks.