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Almost all the best Flemish artists trained in Italy in the 16th century, and no one made more of this experience than Pieter Paul Rubens (1577–1640). He combined his prodigious Flemish technique with Italian flourish to produce art full of verve and dynamism.

Prince Léopold of Belgium married the beautiful Swedish princess Astrid in 1926. By the time of their coronation in 1934, they had three young children, but tragedy struck the following year when she was killed in a car accident in Switzerland, aged 29.

The dreamlike paintings of René Magritte (1898–1967) rank alongside Salvador Dali’s work as archetypal Surrealism. Magritte, however, is famous for a modest lifestyle, witnessed at Brussels’ Musée René Magritte.

A painter and sculptor (1882–1916) whose work is full of light, verve and charm.

Come here for a glimpse of the grace and elegance of 17th-century patrician style. A series of rooms contains a fine collection of furniture, paintings and artifacts. The house is named after its owner, city mayor Nicholas Rockox (1560–1640), a philanthropist and a friend and patron of Rubens. There are paintings and drawings by Rubens, Jordaens and Van Dyck, as well as work by Frans Snyders (1579–1657), who lived next door.

One of the leading Flemish “Primitives”, Rogier van der Weyden (c.1400–64) is best known for the intense emotion of his work, such as The Seven Sacraments in the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp (see Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten). Working mainly in Brussels, he became the leading painter after the death of van Eyck.

A rare opportunity not only to visit the house and studio of one of the great stars of European art, but also to see what a 17th-century patrician home looked like (see Rubenshuis, Antwerp).

This historic archers’ guildhouse still functions as an archery club.

Elegantly refurbished after destruction by the iconoclasts, this pretty church is a tranquil place of worship enlivened by Baroque flourishes.