Groenplaats (Green square), Antwerp

Here I was this morning watching a Tv program on home design, interiors. For some reason, I've been aware, these weeks, that this French TV on the cable sometimes airs programs produced by RTL-TVI (Belgian, French-speaking media group). Off course, something Belgian uses to tick my interest, esp. if it's about Belgian food, home design, interiors, fashion... So, it has become with great expectation that I wait for this program. Most often, if it's Belgian, I'd stick to the canal, else I may wait for awhile to see whether it really interests me, select and switch canal if needed. lol
Today, amongst other subjects, they introduced the smallest house in Antwerp. They talked about some odd dimension: 2.6m width and showed the small facade. Already, I was curious about how to fit in there, how they did. Then, the visit of the interior. Gosh! Charming! Seen on my screen, it didn't seem that small. Mostly, it was wonderfully restaured and furbished. Romantic with varying theme for each bedroom (4 in total!).

The "human-size dollhouse", as it was dubbed, bearing the name of Louise-Marie (spouse of a French King), its owner explained it had to live up to its... name. No wonder they favoured rich velvet on some furniture, pastel shades, great attention to details like Lys motives on materials. Romantic but not too much. Hate it when a house interior is too of a style. Here, it was elegant, balanced and made to fit the narrowness without conveying claustrophobia. I was even more impressed when, at the end of the program, the presenter listed 90 sq.m spread over 4 storeys with 4 bedrooms, one living-room, 1 bathroom (classic and refined, from I could see) and 1 kitchen. Didn't know whether it's open for visit. Didn't know the exact location, except that it is off Groenplaats.

Last resort: the net. There, I saw the address I post below and other info. The pic you see of the dining table doesn't make justice to Louise-Marie, imho. The bedrooms are wow!
Most important, it is a Holiday Home (from Antwerpen city website), so it doesn't matter whether it is open for visit or not, one thing is sure, you could rent it & stay there during your visit to the city. A big advantage: its location in the heart of the city.

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One of the largest squares in the Old Town of Antwerp is the so-called Green Place, dominated by the lateral façade of the Cathedral of Our Lady and full of restaurants, pubs and sidewalk cafés. I do not know the reason why it is called Green Place, as it looks rather like a large concrete esplanade. It did not always like this, though, as the city's main cemetery used to be located here, until the Emperor Joseph II forbid burial places within the walled cities in the 19th century.

The North side of the square is occupied by the former Grand Bazar department store, which now houses a Hilton hotel.

It used to be a cemetery (:S) and a parking lot (what a shame!), but fortunately now it is a beautiful square surrounded by restaurants and cafés where you can sit and enjoy what's happening around.

In the middle of the square there is the Ruben's statue, built in 1843, with the Cathedral in the background.

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This square is minutes from Grote Markt. It is dominated by the backdrop of the Cathedral of Our Lady. It housed the cemetery of the cathedral in medieval times. More recently it used to be a parking lot. There is a large numbers of cafes all around the square.

The Groenplaats or 'Green Place', one of Antwerp's most prominent squares is located right in the heart of the city's historic district. Not as green as its name suggests, the Groenplaats is a square bordered mainly by cafes. The cafe terraces are very popular with both tourists and locals and are a great place to try some of the many specialty beers.

In the middle of the square there is a statue of Antwerp's famous painter P.P. Rubens.

This is one of the busiest squares of Antwerp. Although its name is translated from Flemish as "Green Place" it is far away from being green. But it is, definitely, the liveliest one. A statue of national painter, Rubens, right in the middle is surrounded by cafes and restaurants, of the square's edges. The most remarkable building is the Hilton Hotel which was a market place, once. For me, however, the most important building on this square is the Celtic Ireland bar, which serves the best Guinness I ever tried, this is why I keep coming back.
It is hard to believe that this place used to be the city's largest cemetery, which now is a history, since the 18th century.
Max, a tuny fries cafe is on the Groenplaats too, so if you happen to be there, don't miss the opportunity to enjoy some real Belgian fries.

One of the most important painters of Antwerp was of course the world famous Pieter Paul Rubens. If you like Rubens you should pay a visit to Antwerp, The house where he lived and worked is now a museum. Throughout the city many important paintings of Rubens can be seen on different locations.c*

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Groenplaats was in my opinion one of the highligts of Antwerp. The buildings around the square are really gorgeous, and especially with the Cathedral and all the Cafes around the sides, giving it a really nice atmosphere.
The day we visited it was unfortunately raining lots, so we could not venture out to see too many sites, so we opted for sitting at one of the many bars overlooking the square having a few beers.
The atmosphere was really nice and I can just imagine on a nice summers day that it will be packed with people all having a nice time!
Unfortunately my pictures dont do the square its deserverd justice as it was raining loads and I did not want to get my camera wet, so I stood at a dry spot to take those pics.