Antwerp the capital of diamonds

Antwerp, or Antwerpen in the Flemish language, is located at 40 km far from the capital Brussels in Belgium. It's one of the largest cities in the country and for sure one of the most attractive thanks to its evolution: it's not difficult to find ancient buildings close to art nouveau houses or many design labs close to medieval castles.
However the main feature of this place is that is considered the real capital of diamonds: in fact it's called the city of diamonds. If you get out of the main railway station you can easily find the so called "Diamondland", a street with an impressive number of diamond shops, plenty of agencies or brokers. Through Antwerp the 40% of the worldwide industrial commerce of diamond is managed, the 85% of the one of raw diamonds and the 50% of finished diamonds.
Besides this, Antwerp has a nice historic centre that is worth a visit. Its centre is the Grote Markt, a triangular square surrounded by the Town Hall and Flemish Renaissance houses, cafes and restaurants. The Town Hall catches immediately to the eye: built in 1564 it's one of the most ancient in this area and has 45 doors at the ground floor that hosted in the past little shops. The presence of corporations in this square is evident because of the golden statues over the buildings. In the middle of the Grote Markt, there's the monument to the Roman soldier Brabo, whose legend tells he cut the hand of a giant that was used to threaten the navigation on the Scheldt river.
The other symbol of Antwepr is for sure the Onze Lieve Vrouwe Cathedral, or the Cathedral of Our Lady, the largest gothic cathedral of Belgium, built in 1352, with its high tower bell that dominates the entire city. Inside travellers can admire sculptures, monuments and the works of the painter Rubens.
Art lovers, besides finding  desing and fashion shops, can also visit the Royal Museum of Arts and most of all the Rubenshuis, where the painter lived in the 17th Century with a Renaissance garden and his paintings.
Close to the river, there's the Steen ( in Flemish it means stone), castle of the 13th Century that also was a prison and now house of the maritime museum.
Along  the streets like Meir and Osterrieth shopping lovers can meet their tastes between ancient and modern buildings, whereas if you prefer to discover the hidden parts in the touristic website you can find interesting routes, where the chaotic city seems to be quiet.
Last but not least another feature of Antwerp is the good lifestyle: do not miss the Belgian fries, to sit down in a cafe or restaurant and taste one of the 600 beers, in particular the typical bolleke, sweets like wafels, and sea food tha comes from the Northern Sea, and the good nightlife, with many locals with new trends.