The Brabo Fountain
The soldier throwing the giant's hand — the legend of the name.
G.Lanting — CC BY 3.0 · CEphoto, Uwe Aranas — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Jean Housen — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jean Housen — CC BY-SA 4.0
From the Brabo and giant legend: the severed hand became the city's emblem — seen in the square's fountain, on buildings, and in "Antwerpse Handjes" (hand-shaped biscuits and chocolates sold everywhere as the ideal souvenir). The name's real origin is probably "aan 't werp" (at the wharf), but the legend is lovelier.
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The Grote Markt is Antwerp's great square and historic heart: an irregular triangle ringed by sixteenth-century Flemish Renaissance guild houses with gilded step gables and tall statues, and the imposing Renaissance City Hall (1565) — the first great Renaissance building in the Low Countries, fully restored and reopened in 2022 — with the world's flags on its façade. At its centre stands the Brabo Fountain (1887, by the sculptor Jef Lambeaux): a bronze of the Roman soldier Silvius Brabo throwing the severed hand of the giant Antigoon into the Scheldt — by legend the giant cut off the hands of those who refused his toll, so Brabo killed him and threw his hand, and from "hand-throwing" (hand werpen) came the name Antwerp. The severed hand is the city's symbol (found even in chocolate). Free and the centre of everything: the cathedral steps away, the river and Het Steen castle two minutes off, and the Christmas market in December.
The soldier throwing the giant's hand — the legend of the name.
Restored Flemish Renaissance with the world's flags.
Gilded step gables with tall statues.
Grote Markt, 2000 Antwerp