December 26, 2015

2152 BELGIUM (Antwerp) - Antwerpen-Centraal railway station

2152 Antwerpen-Centraal railway station

Antwerpen-Centraal (Antwerp Central) is the main railway station in Antwerp, the most populous city in Flanders. In 2009 the American magazine Newsweek judged Antwerpen-Centraal the world's fourth greatest train station, and in 2014 the British-American magazine Mashable awarded it the first place for the most beautiful railway stations of the world, even if the extraordinary eclecticism of the design had led to a difficulty in assigning it to a particular architectural style.

The original building was constructed between 1895 and 1905 as a replacement for the original terminus of the Brussels-Mechelen-Antwerp Railway. The stone clad terminus buildings, with a vast dome above the waiting room hall were designed by Louis Delacenserie and the vast (185m long and 44m high) iron and glass trainshed by Clement van Bogaert. The viaduct was designed by local architect Jan Van Asperen.

In 1998 large-scale reconstruction work began to convert the station from a terminus to a through station. A new tunnel has been excavated between Berchem station in the south of the city and Antwerpen-Dam station in the north. The major elements of the construction project were completed in 2007. The station has four levels and 14 tracks.

About the stamp
The stamp, issued on October 28, 2013, is part of a definitive series depicting King Philippe.

References
Antwerpen-Centraal railway station - Wikipedia

Sender: Ana
Sent from Antwerp (Antwerp / Belgium), on 21.12.2015

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