Where is Antwerp

Antwerp is a great city in Belgium. It is located on the Scheldt River, close to the North Sea, and has a population of about 300,000 people. Besides being the most important center of business in Belgium, Antwerp is also famous for its cathedral and art treasures. The great Cathedral of Notre Dame in Antwerp is one of the largest in Europe, and has a spire 400 feet high. Inside the cathedral are some of the great paintings of such famous artists as Rubens, Van Dyck, and others.

There are also many museums arid art galleries. Diamond-cutting is one of Antwerp's biggest businesses. Here, rough diamonds that look like dirty pebbles are cut and polished by skilled diamondcutters until they become the brilliant shining stones that we see in jewelry stores. Antwerp is a very old city and has seen many wars. It has been partly destroyed many times, but each time its people have rebuilt it. When Napoleon, the great French general and emperor, conquered Antwerp in 1803, he found it completely deserted.

The people had fled from their homes to escape from the French soldiers. In 1914, at the beginning of World War I, the Germans attacked Antwerp. There were great rings of forts to protect the city, but they were destroyed by German guns. Again, many of the people fled, to the neighboring country of Holland, but they later came back to fight and win. In World War II Antwerp was again taken by the Germans, and was freed by the victorious British and American troops.