Belgium

Antwerp faces the Scheldt and, through the river, the wider world. Its port explains much of its wealth, but the city also grew around painting workshops, printing houses, diamond commerce, guild halls and migrant networks. This mixture appears in a compact historic centre and former docklands where warehouses stand beside contemporary architecture.

Bruges appears to have been preserved inside a display case: still canals, stepped façades, stone bridges and bells heard above the roofs. Yet its beauty was not created simply to be admired. Every canal had a commercial function, every square concentrated trades and contracts, and every great church speaks of a period when this small Flemish city belonged to exchange networks extending far beyond the North Sea.

Brussels may appear solemn in Grand-Place and almost irreverent a few streets later, when a comic mural, tiny statue or curving Art Nouveau façade comes into view. This mixture is not accidental. The city grew between different languages, powers and communities: it is Belgium’s capital, a seat of European institutions, an officially bilingual territory and home to people from many parts of the world.

Ghent formed at the meeting of the Lys and Scheldt, and water still shapes its structure. Graslei and Korenlei reflect guild façades, medieval towers align above the roofs and small canals cross districts where students, residents and visitors share the same streets.