After twenty years of vacancy, the Handelsbeurs in Antwerp was again accessible to those who went to eat in the restaurant. Everyone is welcome to visit the renovated historic building from Saturday.
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The Handelsbeurs, between Meir and Lange Nieuwstraat, reopened in October after a three-year renovation, but only for visitors to restaurant Fiera in the former Schippersbeurs, a side aisle of the Handelsbeurs. Everyone can walk in freely from Saturday between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., and this will continue until the end of August. Food trucks are lined up in the courtyard, and there is a free stage with grand piano where musicians bring entertainment.
And even more good news for those who want to discover the building: from 11 July, the photo exhibition will open on the first floor of the Handelsbeurs Iconobelge II, with work by Belgian photographers such as Marc Lagrange, Stephan Vanfleteren, Frieke Janssens and Lara Gasparotto.
The Handelsbeurs has existed since the sixteenth century and had a turbulent history. The monumental stock exchange building was completely burnt down twice (in 1583 and in 1858) and rebuilt. At the end of the nineteenth century, the current Trade Fair was built on the site and foundations of the sixteenth century fair.
In 1997, the building lost its function because the stock exchange of Antwerp was taken over by that of Brussels. Since then, the building was empty and withering. The search for a new profitable interpretation and investors had some feet, so that the restoration process could only start in 2016.
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