Amazing Belgium

The Nottebohm Hall in the Hendrik Conscience Library in Antwerp has reopened. The prestigious Nottebohm Hall of Heritage Library Hendrik Conscience in the heart of the city is rarely open to the public, but at the end of November 2023, the impressive room reopened to the public. “Magical, overwhelming, breathtaking.” Those are some of the words that many visitors now use to describe the room. Picture courtesy of Erfgoedbibliotheek Hendrik Conscience The library houses about 120,000 old books. What is new is that the historic library space is now also open to individual visitors. “The Nottebohm room is the hidden gem of the Heritage Library Hendrik Conscience”, says the library staff. “As soon as they enter the room, visitors smell the scent of the 120,000 old books and hear the sounds of the city die down. Strolling across the creaking parquet, they discover Blaeu's iconic globes and all the other masterpieces that are kept there. The curious can discover the Nottebohm Hall on the

They are typically Belgian, 60 years old, and still trendy, without a penny of advertising. The Our Lady sweets or Guimauve are the classics among the end-of-year sweets, they are made in the small factory Etna near Brussels and have the shape of an Our Lady statue. Why is it that this somewhat old-fashioned candy remains so popular? At least not through clever marketing but it's a traditional sweet candy that is being past over from father to son or mother to daughter. Picture courtesy of Etna You can find them everywhere in Belgium, going from small local shops to exclusive Belgian chocolate shops. The soft candy is not made from chocolate but with  sugar, glucose, dextrose, gelatin, and added natural and artificial flavors.  Every day, 700,000 Maria sweets roll off the production line, all year round. Next time you visit Belgian, look out for this traditional Belgian candy, a good alternative to that other famous Belgian candy, Chocolate.

The name or toponym "Antwerp" is explained toponymical and archaeologically from the name given to the site of the first settlement, which was called "Anda Verpa". This is probably an Old Frankish reference to 'near the grounds', for example, a place in a bend of the river, the appropriate site for a settlement at this time. It is not so that the name of the city comes from Silvius Brabo, a folklore figure. According to a legend, he was a Roman soldier who killed the giant Druon Antigoon, cut off his hand, and threw it into the Scheldt river. In the language of the time that would mean Ant (hand) and Werpen (throwing), but that is a legend that was later partly accepted as accurate. Brabo became the official symbol of the city and got its own statue in front of the town hall, throwing the hand of the giant into the river. Picture by Pixabay Over time, the name changed to Antwerpen, in English Antwerp. The settlement grew into a bustling port city, thanks in

The story of the Manneken Pis, a small bronze statue of a urinating boy located in the center of Brussels, is a long and interesting one. According to legend, the Manneken Pis was created in the early 1500s to honor a young boy named Julian who, during a battle, put out a fire by urinating on it. The statue was created to commemorate this heroic act and became a symbol of the bravery and spirit of the people of Brussels. Over the years, the Manneken Pis has become a beloved and iconic symbol of the city of Brussels. It has become a popular tourist attraction, with people from all over the world coming to see the statue and take pictures with it. Picture by Pixabay In addition to its fame as a tourist attraction, the Manneken Pis has also become known for its many different outfits and costumes. The statue has a large collection of clothing and accessories that it wears on different occasions, including traditional Belgian costumes, military uniforms, and even superhero outfits. Despit

Everyone should know by now that fries are Belgian and not French, so they are referred to as Belgian fries and not French fries, you should adjust the pronunciation if you haven't done that already. The most modern and largest Belgian factory in Europe is, of course, in Belgium. 3.5 million kilograms of fries a week roll off the production line in the small town of Poperinge. Aviko is the global market leader in refrigerated chips and one of the four largest potato processing companies in the world, they mainly produce frozen chips for the whole of Europe. Colossal steam engines peel potatoes in seconds, a river of potatoes goes through cutting machines at 90 per hour, and robots scan day and night for defects and black dots, so that only perfect fries remain real Belgian fries.

In the city of Ghent, there is a square that used to be known as the square of death. In the Middle Ages and even long after, all kinds of executions were carried out on the market square. The square is just in front of the centuries-old Castle of the Counts. and has the name Veerleplein. From 1407 until the end of the 18th century, the square served as a court for criminals. It was the only place of punishment in Flanders for counterfeiters. The fact that counterfeiters were punished here had to do with the location of the count's mint in nearby Gravensteen. The counterfeiters were thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil or boiling water. On March 17, 1540, nine of the leaders of the Ghent Revolt were beheaded here by order of Emperor Charles V. Five more followed on May 4. The same fate was suffered here, by Jan van Hembyse, one of the leaders of the Ghent Republic in 1584. Picture by Mith Now that Ghent is mainly a tourist city and executions are a thing of the past, the city cou