"Antwerp - the seventeenth century made flesh" Antwerp by andreakirkby

Antwerp was the home of Rubens - the chief painter of the Counter-Reformation and Baroque in northern Europe. The paintings in the cathedral are among his greatest, but other churches offer further light on his work; St James's (Sint Jacobuskerk) where he is buried, under a painting in which he shows his entire family disguised as saints; St Carlo Borromeo, which he had a hand in designing, though the painting in the Lady Chapel is a copy of his original (now in Vienna); and several others. ('Rubens online' has a searchable map of all the locations of his paintings in Belgium.)

Rockox was one of Rubens's major patrons right from the beginning. His house on Keizerstraat shows his taste - it's been nicely refurbished and includes paintings by Van Dyck and Rubens, as well as fine furniture and stained glass. Look carefully at the Descent from the Cross, in the cathedral, and in the right hand panel you can see Rockox standing at the edge of the painting behind Saint Simeon - Rubens's tribute to his patron.

Christoffel Plantin was a Frenchman, but emigrated to Antwerp and made his fortune here as a printer. With more than 20 presses this was the biggest publishing house in Europe. His son-in-law Jan Moretus took over the business, and even employed Rubens to design the frontispieces of his books. The Plantin house and printing works are now a museum - a nice visit for anyone but particularly if you are interested in books and printing. (The exhibits upstairs can be rather dry - but if you collect books, they're interesting, and keep an eye out for the Rubens drawings.) And you get another chance to see Rubens paintings - a very fine set of portraits, and the 'Four Philosophers'.

By the way, Antwerp also has a really fine set of bars serving excellent Belgian beers. Start off at the Waagstuk, then try Oude Arsenaal near the Rubenshuis - a lovely family run boozer - and end up at Kulminator with its extensive beer list, and you'll have a great time.

• Pros:baroque everything!
• Cons:some of the churches have short visiting hours
• In a nutshell:Fine art, fine architecture, fine beer - a baroque city par excellence!