Stadspark

Stadspark is a fourteen-hectare city park in central Antwerp, near the main station and the city’s Jewish Quarter. Winding paths cross open lawns in an English landscape style, while apartment buildings and city noise remain visible around the edges. A pond follows part of the moat that once surrounded Fort Herentals, linking the greenery to Antwerp’s former Spanish fortifications.

The triangular site became a park between 1867 and 1869, after the fortifications lost their military purpose. E. Van Cuyck led the transformation, with landscape design by E. Keilig. A white-painted iron suspension bridge crosses the water, resting between artificial rock formations that create one of the city’s few raised settings. Statues, a large First World War memorial and a Second World War bunker add layers of civic memory.

Yew trees, American lindens, cypresses and a Japanese walnut bring varied shapes and textures through the seasons. A playground, rabbits and waterfowl share the park with joggers, walkers, families and rollerbladers. The white bridge, built in 1869, remains the clearest detail to remember.