Why go
The later wealth of Grote Markt and the cathedral makes more sense after seeing the city's smaller beginnings. Archaeological finds near the Scheldt, the first fortified wharf and the network of medieval canals show how a river settlement became a trading town.
The full story
Archaeological finds near the Scheldt include Roman-period pottery and glass, though they do not provide a simple founding date for Antwerp. The settlement appears in early medieval accounts, and its religious life developed in the centuries that followed. By the late tenth century, the Scheldt marked a frontier of the Holy Roman Empire and Antwerp had become a defended border town. The fortified wharf occupied only a small part of today's centre. Commerce then drove growth beyond it, with canals linking the river to new streets and quays. The town also gained religious institutions, including the Premonstratensian community at St Michael's Abbey. These stages explain the irregular shape of the old centre: its streets grew around a river landing, defensive edges and working waterways. When walking between Het Steen, the Vleeshuis and Grote Markt, imagine the city expanding in steps rather than arriving fully formed with its later monumental buildings.