The Zurenborg District & Cogels Osylei

Zurenborg is a hidden treasure and we like to keep it that way. Tourists only find their way to the Cogels Osylei. The streets around the Dageraadplaats though are the living hart of the area. Surrounded by bars and restaurants, this is one of the nicest squares of The City. In the summer during week-ends there are often things going on and the place turns into a big terrace.

You want fancy food or a quick bite? Or you want to forget about the time in a brown bar and go home after three AM? You find it all in this square 500 meters. There are too many choices to write down so I suggest you walk here and do whatever you want to. That’s how we do it…

The area is also called the Golden Triangle of Art Nouveau. Three streets, Cogels Osylei, Transvallstraat and Waterloo Straat host 170 monumental houses protected by the Flemish government since 1984.

This whole area of Zurenborg – not only the Cogels-Osy Lei – was on the demolition list in the early 70ies. Those days, Berchem was an independent commune and it was decided that the area didn’t have any architectural or historical value.

“Let’s get rid of this mess” was the opinion of the local mayor.

A protest group was created and local papers reported extensively about the planned demolition. Journalists, architects writers, actors and other creative minds start buying the houses for next to nothing.

As you might have guessed they did a very good deal - Today the houses are worth millions of Euros.

Variety and individuality were the key to the buildings constructed in this part of the city. This resulted in an Antwerp Architecture area where you can find a Moorish style building next to an Art Nouveau house or an eclectic castle. Nowhere in the world will you find so many confronting styles in one small district.

The Cogels Osylei neighborhood is an area full of symbolic buildings - and street names. Cogels-Osy, the man who started the whole development project, was a defender of the Flemish and Antwerp identity.

Some street names refer to the independence war of linguistic affinity. The Boer war in South Africa: the Pretoriastraat, Transvallstraat and Krugerstraat.

Others refer to the Flemish history or to wars against the Dutch and French. Several buildings were given similar symbolic names. These symbols show that the neighborhood represented a newly found patriotism which is also reflected in the exuberance of the architecture.

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