Belgium · Flanders · Antwerp
Den Dam, Antwerp — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Den Dam is a working quarter in northern Antwerp, built around the Lobroekdok and the old slaughterhouse ground off the Slachthuislaan.
About Den Dam
Where to stay in Den Dam
Where you base yourself shapes the visit — here's the character of each area.
Rooms here sit north of the centre. Den Dam keeps its beds along the Slachthuislaan and the Lange Lobroekstraat, the butchers' street whose grill houses draw diners from across Antwerp, with the water of the Lobroekdok closing the quarter's eastern side. Concert nights fill the Schijnpoortweg.
The Sportpaleis stands just beyond the dock, and Park Spoor Noord opens the ground toward Seefhoek in the south.
About Den Dam
What are the main landmarks in Den Dam?
The quarter's own landmark is a concert hall. Across the Lobroekdok on the Schijnpoortweg, the Sportpaleis fills for arena shows, and Plopsa Station Antwerp runs its indoor rides under the same roofline. Antwerp's museum set lies south.
The Museum aan de Stroom rises over the docks at the Eilandje, with Het Steen on the riverfront and the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal above the old centre beyond it, while Antwerp Zoo sits east of the same core.
What is the history of Den Dam?
The name is the Dutch word for a dam, and the quarter grew on low ground north of the walled city, where the polder began. Antwerp put its municipal slaughterhouse here, off what became the Slachthuislaan. Butchers followed the abattoir.
The Lange Lobroekstraat filled with grill houses that outlasted the killing floors, and the Lobroekdok was cut alongside as the harbour pushed north, before the ring motorway was carried past the quarter on a viaduct.
Where is Den Dam?
Den Dam covers the ground between the Lobroekdok and Park Spoor Noord in northern Antwerp, with Merksem north beyond the Albertkanaal and the Eilandje west.
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Updated September 2026