The =centre of mediæval Antwerp= was the =Grand’ Place=, which may be reached from the Place Verte, through the little triangular Marché aux Gants, in front of the main _façade_ of the Cathedral. It was, however, so entirely modernized under the Spanish _régime_ that it now possesses very little interest. The W. side of the square is entirely occupied by the =Hôtel-de-Ville=, a poor Renaissance building, which looks very weak after the magnificent Gothic Town Halls of Bruges, Ghent, Brussels, and Louvain. The _façade_ is extremely plain, not to say domestic. The ground floor has an arcade in imitation of Italian _rustica_ work, above which come two stories with Doric and Ionic columns (and Corinthian in the centre); the top floor being occupied by an open _loggia_, supporting the roof. In the centre, where we might expect a spire, rises a false gable-end, architecturally meaningless. The niche in the gable is occupied by a statue of Our Lady with the Child (1585), the patroness of the city, flanked by allegorical figures of Wisdom and Justice. The =interior= has been modernized: but it contains one fine hall, the _Salle Leys_, decorated with noble archaistic paintings by Baron Leys. It may be visited before 9, or after 4 in the evening (1 franc to the _concierge_). In the Burgomaster’s Room is also a good Renaissance chimney-piece, from the Abbey of Tongerloo, with reliefs of the Marriage at Cana, the Brazen Serpent, and Abraham’s Sacrifice. The square contains a few =Guild Houses= of the 17th century, the best of which is the _Hall of the Archers_, to the R. of the Hôtel-de-Ville, a handsome and conspicuous building, lately surmounted by a gilt figure of St. George slaying the Dragon, in honour of the patron saint of the Archers. The older Guild Houses, however, were mostly destroyed by the Spaniards. The square, as it stands, being Renaissance or modern, cannot compare with the Grand’ Place in most other Belgian cities. The centre of the Place is occupied by a bronze =fountain=, with a statue of Silvius Brabo, a mythical hero of mediæval invention, intended to account for the name Brabant. He is said to have cut off the hand of the giant Antigonus, who exacted a toll from all vessels entering the Schelde, under penalty of cutting off the hand of the skipper,—a myth equally suggested by a false etymology of Antwerp from _Hand Werpen_ (Hand throwing). The Hand of Antwerp, indeed, forms part of the city arms, and will meet you on the lamp-posts and elsewhere. It is, however, the ordinary Hand of Authority (Main de Justice), or of good luck, so common in the East, and recurring all over Europe, as on the shields of our own baronets. Such a hand, as an emblem of authority, was erected over the gate of many mediæval Teutonic cities. * * * * *