Handelsbeurs in Antwerp

From 1531 to 1661, Antwerp housed the world's first commodity exchange. When the city took over Bruges' trading role, Antwerp grew into a metropolis with more than 100,000 inhabitants, including some 10,000 foreign merchants, mainly from Spain and Portugal. After the fall of Antwerp in 1584–1585, Amsterdam took over the role of the most important trading centre of the Netherlands, which reduced the importance of the goods exchange in Antwerp.

In 1858 the exchange building was completely destroyed by a fire, but in 1872 it was resurrected as the neo-Gothic Antwerp Stock Exchange, this time as the official stock exchange. In 1997, the exchange merged with the Brussels Stock Exchange (now Euronext), after which the building became vacant again and fell into disrepair. After a thorough restoration, the Handelsbeurs has now reopened and is once again functioning as a vibrant location for events and meetings.

The floor of the ground floor was first thoroughly cleaned with Lithofin MN Power-Clean and then impregnated with Lithofin Stainstop PLUS.