Friday market

Under the Antwerp Vrijdagmarkt sit two bunkers that were constructed during the Cold War to withstand atomic attacks. They are links in a larger network. There is also one under the Grote Markt.

The bunker was built in 1955, at the height of the Cold War, but was never used. At the end of the 1990s, it was opened for the last time, after which access was sealed off and the ventilation shafts were covered with cobblestones.

This bunker is not unique. Right next to it, an identical specimen was uncovered, and according to old plans, there are 99 bunkers buried in and around Antwerp, mainly in the port. There is also one hidden under the Grote Markt, beneath the Handschoenmarkt, under the Kiel ... They illustrate the fear of a nuclear attack that hovered across Europe in the years following World War II. A bunker beneath the Royal Museum of Fine Arts was meant to protect the paintings of Rubens and other masterpieces. During the recent renovation, it was dismantled.

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