The Brabo Fountain

The green figure towering above you right now is mid-throw, arm raised, holding something rather grim: a severed hand. This is Silvius Brabo!

According to the legend, a giant named Antigoon once terrorized this stretch of the River Scheldt. He demanded a toll from every passing sailor, and anyone who refused lost a hand. He went on like this for years, growing rich and cruel, until a young Roman soldier named Brabo had enough. He challenged the giant, killed him, and then cut off Antigoon's hand and hurled it into the river. A fitting end by the giant's own logic.

That act, the story goes, gave Antwerp its name. "Antwerpen" is said to come from the Dutch words for "hand throwing." Whether or not that etymology holds up historically, the city has fully embraced it. The hand appears in the coat of arms, in civic symbolism, and most deliciously, in the Antwerpse handjes, small biscuits shaped like hands that you can buy all over the city.

Jef Lambeaux designed this fountain in the late 19th century, and he clearly understood that a city with this story deserves a monument that doesn't hold back.