City: Every ’Sinjoor’ will
say that Antwerp is one of the world's most outstanding cities.
The nickname ‘Sinjoor’ rlates to the inhabitants
of Antwerp and dates from the time of the Spanish Inquisition.
It is derived from the Spanish word señor (Sir). This
confirms that Antwerp's history goes back a long way. It was
during the Eighty Years' War (1568-1648) that Antwerp was
transformed from a small town to the biggest city in the Seventeen
Provinces (Habsburger Netherlands). Antwerp has a strong reputation
for fashion, diamonds and as a world port.
Antwerp has the largest population of any city in Belgium.
There are approximately 472,071 inhabitants (2008). In addition
Antwerp is also a religious centre. The city is the seat of
the Roman Catholic Diocese of Antwerp and the Anglican Arch
Diocese of Northwest Europe. 20,000 Orthodox Jews also reside
here. Many of them belong to the strict Orthodox Charedic
Judaism which makes Antwerp, second only to London, the largest
centre of charedic Jews in Europe. However, the majority of
the inhabitants are Roman Catholic.
Building: Church of St. Jacob (St. James)
A chapel was built on this site in 1413 by Thomas Huyghman.
In addition to the chapel, a hostel for the pilgrims to Santiago
de Compostela was erected on the site. The existence of the
chapel led to the founding of a new parish and later the building
of the present church. The building's history runs from 1491
to 1656.
The late Gothic church (ca. 1506-1656) has a stunning
baroque decoration with 23 altars and a great art collection
of artists such as Jordaens, Rubens and Van Balen. This church
was the parish church of Peter Paul Rubens. He is buried in
a tomb in the chapel.
Subject: God's name is twice found here
in Hebrew. The first instance is on the impressive pulpit
which has beautiful carvings. The pulpit was made in 1675
by Ludovicus Willemsens (1630-1702), who at the end of his
life became court sculptor to King William III of England.
The second time, God's name is written inside a triangle above
an altar.
