There are many ways to visit a church as a group:
- If you opt for an adventure, you explore the church on your own or in a smaller group, with the flyer at the entrance as a compass or armed with a thorough art guide (see Publications).
- As a group with your own guide.
- But if you still want to see the forest through the trees and enjoy the beauty even more intensely, you can take advantage of our offer of group tours. A TOPA guide will take you on a discovery tour. To your own surprise, you will often see much more … than what you saw at first sight.
The concrete possibilities in the churches of Antwerp can be found via the following links:
The five churches in the heart of Antwerp
“Tours between Towers”:
Stepping from one church to another
This walk depends on the access hours of the relevant churches, varying from season to season, and on the worship services.
Highlights of Antwerp painting
Thanks to the Top Art Decree, Antwerp’s top baroque painting will never leave our territory. Come face to face with twenty-two protected Antwerp masterpieces in three monumental churches: Saint Paul’s, Cathedral and Saint James. Discover who besides Rubens, Van Dyck and Jordaens still deserve our protection and admiration.
Time: 1h30 to 2h00
Price: inhabitants of the province of Antwerp, free of charge; for mixed groups, non-Antwerpers pay € 6.00
Guide: € 85,00
Reservation: 3 weeks in advance via info@dekathedraal.be or +32 (0)3 213 99 51
Tours available to groups in the Cathedral
Discovering the cathedral
For centuries Our Lady’s Cathedral has been welcoming visitors from all corners of the world. The largest cathedral in the Low Countries is not only a great treasury but also a home for a living church community. We will be pleased to accompany you on your quest past P.P. Rubens and tens of less known artists, who created their masterpieces for people who feel at home in this House of God.
Be surprised by the beauty and the powerful stories that it hides. Many things are not as they seem…
Duration: 1h30 to 2h00
Price: € 6.00; inhabitants of the Province of Antwerp: free
Guide: € 85.00
From the big garden to the small tower
A garden 16 ft. above street level and in the heart of Antwerp… For long this was a well-kept secret. How did it end up there and what is the relation between this garden and the unfinished cathedral tower? From this tower you can see Antwerp the way you never saw the city and the river Scheldt. You will also explore a number of hidden spots “behind the screens” and admire the age-old craftsmanship of roof carpenters and builders of vaultings and towers.
Duration: 2h00
Price: € 10.00
Guide: € 85.00
Beneath and above the vaultings
For centuries the vaultings of the cathedral have been a stone tent giving shelter to hosts of works of art. We discover a few highlights with you and take you to the attic of the central nave. Beneath age-old beams the vaultings are even more spectacular. We climb the “small tower” (which is less small than you would think), see an age-old treadwheel crane and enjoy a sensational view over the city and its river.
Duration: 2h00
Price: € 10.00
Guide: € 85.00
Stunning statues (from Mosan Madonna to Fabre, from The Woman who carries the Child to The Man who carries the Cross)
Woodcutters, sculptors and bronze casters… Since the Middle Ages they have been confronting us with three-dimensional works of art: tender, astonishing, confronting, puzzling, never noncommittal. Oak and stone come to life. However cool the marble may be, it will not leave you cold. The polished bronze may even reflect a part of yourself.
Duration: 1h30 to 2h00
Price: € 6.00; inhabitants of the Province of Antwerp: free
Guide: € 85.00