Join AmaWaterways for a guided bike tour through the streets and sights of this bustling Flemish city. Along the way, we’ll see some of Antwerp’s most impressive historical sights in a region already rich with history.

Antwerp’s large seaport (the second largest in Europe and in the top 20 world-wide) made it a major financial center in its golden age heyday in the early 16th century. Already the sugar capitol of Europe, Antwerp enjoyed a booming banking business and was known for its world-class art, culture and policies of religious tolerance. However, beginning in the mid-1500s, wars and religious revolutions (particularly the Reformation) took their toll on the city. Centuries later, Napoleon helped to revive interest in the city’s port (and the dock named after the general still remains).

Now a thriving and vibrant city once again (the second largest in Belgium), Antwerp’s magnificent history (and periods of splendor) is on full display in buildings with varied architectural styles.

The Cogels Osylei is a perfect example of this. Located in the Berchem neighborhood of Antwerp, a majority of the townhouses that line this street are in the magnificent Art Nouveau style. Built at the turn of the last century between 1894-1908, these stunning buildings are listed on the architectural heritage list of Flanders. Part of the so-called Art Nouveau “golden triangle,” the street also offers homes built in other fin-de-siècle styles popular during the time, such as Gothic Revival, Neo-Renaissance, Neoclassical and others to delight fans of architecture and design.