Antwerpen 1.2

At first I thought this was yet another gruesome statue, which of course it is, but it really does fit. This is the top of a statue that is found in the main square. It tells the story of how Antwerpen got it’s name. Apparently during the medieval times they found some whale bones near the river… being medieval type people with medieval sized brains, they just figured it was the bones of a giant and thus had to come up with a story. So I guess the one that stuck was that there was a giant that would make boats pay a toll to come this way up the river. If you didn’t pay the toll, it would cut off your hand and toss it to river. Apparently there was a Roman hero that came up there river and battled the giant, cutting off his had and tossing it in the river thus ending his reign of terror. Werpen was the Roman word meaning “to throw” and thus “Hand – werpen” became Antwerp.

 

Hey, I don’t make them up I just tell them.