Palace on the Meir

The Paleis op de Meir is a ‘royal palace’ located in the commercial heart of the city of Antwerp. In the mid-eighteenth century, the merchant Johan Alexander van Susteren commissioned a leading architect, Jan Pieter Van Baurscheit, to build this Rococo style palace. In 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte bought the stately home and had it redecorated to reflect his own taste, i.e. empire style. In the end the emperor never slept there. The next owner was King William I of the Netherlands, who commissioned the artist Mattheus van Bree to create a Dutch Salon in honour of the Orange Dynasty. However, the Belgian Revolution of 1830 led to a new royal house taking ownership.