The Antwerp Harbour

"The Scheldt river exists because of God, and Antwerp exists because the Scheldt river." This is a common saying in Antwerp, and it serves to highlight the importance of the river to the city. It's thanks to the river that Antwerp became home to the second-largest harbour in Europe - after Rotterdam - and the fourth largest harbour in the world. The harbor was situated at the entrance of the city in the 19th century, along the banks of the river where the Steen Castle stands today. The port was expanded in the 19th century with a man-made dock - known as the Napoleon Dock. Throughout the French occupation, Napoleon transformed the Harbor into a military port as he thought it would make an ideal launching place from which to attack England. Today, the harbour is located just north of the city between Antwerp and the Dutch border. The port was used during the Second World War for bringing in allied military equipment and this led to the city being heavily targeted by German bombing raids in the last years of the war. The use of containers has grown steadily since the 1950's and Antwerp is now the 8th largest container port in the world. Guided tours of the harbour are available and they provide an excellent history lesson along with an insight into the workings of a modern port in action. Global Hotels operate over 150 travel sites for all major worldwide locations. Some sample sites that they operate in the Belgiumn market place include:Hotels in Brugge and Hotels in Brussels. Global Hotels are an Irish based company with an in-dept knowledge of the Belgiumn tourism product. Copyright @ Global Travel Solutions [ Antwerp hotels in Antwerp] - [Site Map] - [ Secure Server ] - [ Privacy Policy ] - [ Disclaimer ]