Antwerp

Antwerp Travel Guide

Antwerp is Europe’s second-largest port and has much of the zest often associated with a harbor town. But it also has an outsized influence in a very different realm: that of clothing design. Since the 1980s, Antwerp-trained fashion designers have become renowned for experimental styles paired with time-honored workmanship. Several designers, such as Dries…

Brussels

Brussels Travel Guide

Brussels’ vibrant, cosmopolitan atmosphere and multicultural beat make it much more than simply the administrative hub of Europe. For all its world-class restaurants, architecture, and art, though, the city keeps a relatively low profile, so you’ll have the breathing room to relish its landmarks, cobbled streets, and beautiful parks.

Brussels started life as a village towards the end…

HISTORY OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

Congo Free State: AD 1885-1908

When Leopold II of Belgium wins international recognition for the Congo Free State in 1885, it is as his own personal fief rather than a Belgian colony. The king is willing to fund the project from his own resources and from concessions to private Belgian companies. The Belgian government has no interest in what seems…

HISTORY OF BELGIUM

The Spanish Netherlands: AD 1579-1714

Although the existence of Belgium as an independent state dates only from 1831, a Belgian identity is evident from 1579. In that year three Catholic provinces of the southern Netherlands form the Union of Arras against the Protestants to the north. Later in the same year the provinces sign a treaty with Spain which gives…

HADISE Biography (1985-)

These days, if you want to get noticed, there seems to be only one way to it — reality TV. That’s exactly what Hadise, born in Mol, Belgium in 1985, did. In 2003, Hadise got a spot on Idols in Turkey, their version of American Idol. She didn’t win the competition, which, if it is anything like the American…