The cathedral stands on the Grote Markt and is the most important Gothic building in Belgium north of Brussels. Building began in the 13th century in the Brabantine Gothic style; the famously unfinished tower came later, an over-ambitious project that has dominated the city ever since. The roof of the tower is still where the planned spire would have started.
The tower can be climbed — 538 steps, with stops along the way to see the 49-bell Hemony carillon and the Skywalk, a metal walkway laid across the open top. The view runs to Antwerp on a clear day, with the flat green polders of central Belgium in every direction. Inside the cathedral, the major work is van Dyck's Crucifixion in the south transept.