Fine arts

The country is homeland to many outstanding personalities who have contributed a lot to the world of fine arts. The world-famous names include Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Lambert Lombard and Theodore de Bry. The Flemish and European painters Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck are also well-known all over the world. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries Egide Wappers, James Ensor, Constant Permeke, René Magritte and other Belgian painters became famous. In the 1950s the avant-garde CoBrA movement emerged in Belgium. The sculptor Panamarenko is a prominent figure in contemporary art. The artist Jan Fabre and the painter Luc Tuymans are also renowned. Belgian architecture made considerable progress in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Victor Horta and Henry van de Velde are renowned as major initiators of the Art Nouveau style.

Music

The vocal music of the Franco-Flemish School has contributed a lot to the development of Renaissance culture. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries such outstanding violinists as Henri Vieuxtemps, Eugène Ysaÿe and Arthur Grumiaux became famous. César Franck, one of the great figures in classical music in the second half of the nineteenth century, was born in Liège in 1822. In 1846 an important event occurred in the world of wind instruments when Adolphe Sax invented the saxophone. Belgium is also famous for its contribution to contemporary music. Bobbejaan Schoepen is known to be the first Belgian pop singer who has achieved considerable results on the international scene. The jazz musician Toots Thielemans is also world-famous, so are the singers Jacques Brel and Salvatore Adamo. The rock/pop music scene of Belgium presents Telex, Front 242, K's Choice, Hooverphonic, Soulwax, dEUS and others.

Literature

When speaking about Belgian literature one should mention such well-known authors as the poet Emile Verhaeren and novelists Hendrik Conscience, Georges Simenon, Suzanne Lilar and Amélie Nothomb. The world-famous poet and playwright Maurice Maeterlinck won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1911.

Sports

Football is very popular in Belgium, it has been played here since the end of the nineteenth century. The national football association was founded in 1895. Cycling is also very popular. Eddy Merckx is one of the prominent Belgian cyclists, he has won five victories of the Tour de France and has set numerous records. Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin are two female tennis champions. The Formula One World Championship Belgian Grand Prix is held at the Spa-Francorchamps motor-racing circuit. The renowned Belgian driver Jacky Ickx won many significant victories and twice finished as runner-up in the Formula One World Championship. Thierry Boutsen is another famous driver, he won three races in 1989 and 1990. Motocross is also highly developed in Belgium, the country is homeland to several world champions: Roger De Coster, Joël Robert, Georges Jobé, Eric Geboers, Joël Smets and Stefan Everts.

Duathlon is also quite popular in Belgium. The country has contributed a lot to its development. Benny Vansteelant won 8 World Champion titles and 5 European Champion titles.

Cuisine

Belgian cuisine is quite famous. It is characterised by good quality and certain unpretentiousness, so the thing you will most likely experience is a combination of the quantity of Germany and the quality of France. "French" fries are very popular here and Belgium is considered to the country in which they were invented. Such brands of Belgian chocolate as Neuhaus, Leonidas, Guylian and Godiva are famous all over the world. The sweets called the 'Caramella Mokatine' are produced by Confiserie Roodthooft in Antwerp along with numerous other tasty products. The country produces over 500 varieties of beer. Inbev is the biggest brewery in the world, it is located in Belgium.