Antwerp, Belgium  - The setting sun bathes Antwerp's diamond district in ruby-red light. Standing outside a diamond exchange are black-clad Hasidic Jews wearing high hats, some fur-trimmed, and sporting side locks curled like corkscrews. They are discussing business in Yiddish.

"Jerusalem on the Scheldt" is one of the many nicknames for the city, which shows visitors a different face in every district.

Only London, Paris and Naples were more populous than Antwerp in the 16th century, which then had more than 100,000 inhabitants. The Welsers and Fuggers, German merchant and banking dynasties, controlled their businesses from the Flemish metropolis.