Stromboli's Rolling Log: Day 6 April 19, 2017 A day in Antwerp, Belgium

Good evening (at least here) to you all.

We are at this writing moving on the Schelde River generally from east to west or from Antwerp to Ghent, Belgium. In order to do that, we go west on the Schelde River out of Belgium and back into the Netherlands and then back into Belgium (south) to reach Ghent. The city of Bruges, near Ghent, is also on the itinerary and more on that later. The Schelde has been historically the largest port river in Europe until the recent century. Diamonds, led the way for a long time, and as a connecting point to most of Europe it was a natural harbor and loading place for many types of goods and materials , especially in the colonial days. Our guide today , Greeta, had a grandfather who was a pilot bring the ocean vessels through the sand bars and obstacles that the other pilots could not see nor know about.

Our two hour tour took us only a long block but was filled with stories of 500 years ago in Antwerp, including the castle and the Lady of Assumption Catholic church the second largest in all of Europe.. The Castle, still on the waterfront, is the only building that remains for the waterfront buildings of the past. It is huge and used as an educational center today.

The Guilds including the bakers and meat guilds were still intact (see) and those narrow streets led to a triangle shaped 'Martz' in the center fo the downtown area. This led to the church , (Assumption Cathedral) where we had an hour long look at some of the finest of Rubens paintings, and some fantastic art, woodcarving and architecture we would ever see. A hand carved pulpit, with figures of church personages carved in the side. I did not mention the stained glass windows and the

The church has seven aisles, and two organs , one a Schevyn, and the other more a Baroque type installed in the last century. They fill the balcony and part of the front of the church. There are several side altars that are located behind the main altar. It seats 25,000 people. The church parish was started in 1138 and has been added onto since that time on that spot. A few facts ...

Interior length: 118 metres (387 ft)
North tower height:123 metres (404 ft)
South tower height: 65.3 metres (214 ft)
Central aisle height: 28 metres (92 ft)
Lantern height or crossing-tower where the nave and transepts meet: 43 metres (141 ft)
Maximum width of the nave: 53.5 metres (176 ft)
Total surface area of the floor: 8,000 square metres (86,000 sq ft)
Surface area of the roof: more than 10,000 square metres (110,000 sq ft

Capacity: 2,400 seats. In principle, the cathedral can hold 25,000 people.
The cathedral has 7 aisles, 125 pillars and 128 windows (of which 55 are stained-glass).
In 1533 there were 57 permanent altars in the cathedral.
The nineteenth-century Schyven organ has 90 registers and 5,770 pipes.
The cathedral has a carillon with 49 bells.
The heaviest bell is Karolus (1507), weighing 6,434 kilograms (14,185 lb).
Maintenance of the cathedral costs 1.5 million euros per year.