538 steps to heaven, a photo from Antwerpen, Flanders

Photographer's Note

This is the view from the bell tower of the Cathedral in Mechelen. You can see the City Hall with the interesting facade as made from three parts and the courtyard inside, where the inflatable refugee was displayed. Near the steep roofs on the bottom you can see something rectangular, the walls of it provided nice reflections. it was difficult to find the place for a good view of the square, because of many protections - glass and iron bars. It was the best I could find.

Visiting St. Rumbolds Cathedral is fascinating enough- huge wood carved pulpit, fabulously displayed relics (bones and more!) and gothic 16th century carved choir. But the Bell Tower is a worthy climb up 538 steps (not all at once) with several floors to visit. Two Carillons and 49 working bells. You see the mechanisms for the clock chimes and a huge drum that plays the bell songs like a giant music box. Stone spiral steps, not for the immobile, and some wooden stairs too. AND a skywalk top with a fantastic view of Mechelen and Brussels in the distance.
(from Tripadvisor)

Bigger beta picture

The view of the tower

Selfie - but not mine :)

papagolf21, ikeharel, jhm, snunney, pajaran, s_lush, holmertz, mehrdad-t, PiotrF, adramad, carlo62, bukitgolfb301, macondo, PaulVDV, mkamionka, ChrisJ, macjake has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

papagolf21 (152599) 2016-11-07 0:58

Bonjour, ch鑢e Malgo,
Une fa鏾n d'avoir de belles jambes en grimpant les marches qui semblent ne plus jamais se terminer.
La vue valait bien cette ascension, car la beaut� des lieux est magnifique.
Merci du partage.
Amiti閟.
Philippe

snunney (130967) 2016-11-07 1:39

Hello Malgo,
Vertiginous point of view looking down on the town square with the people seemingly like so many ants moving hither and thither. I don't know you manage to look through the viewfinder with your fear of heights:-) An image with much of interest to the viewer and perfectly realised.

Nicou (193806) 2016-11-07 1:59

Hello
Fantastique vue de haut quelle belle place avec le personnages en tout petite ces terrasses ces toits de maisons et quelcadrage avec le immenses colonnes en fond cette 間lise et le autre maisons splendide ensemble.
Bravo et amiti�
Nicou

s_lush (16602) 2016-11-07 4:48

Hello, Malgorzata,
It is unbelievable that after 538-step ascent, you have managed finding such a good point of view and a composition with so many interesting compositional elements and two greenish columns, which make a nice frame for the wonderful multicolored scene below. Excellently composed, masterly captured and comprehensively commented in the note. Brilliant work!
My warmest regards,
Sergiy

dkmurphys (78000) 2016-11-07 5:05

Hi Malgo,
Spectacular panoramic view of the square. A typical Belgian city scene, perfectly taken.
Enjoy a fine new week.

Daniel

holmertz (92852) 2016-11-07 6:04

Hello Malgo,
You say it was difficult to find a good place for a view, but this is certainly good enough. The view of the square is entirely surrounded by interesting buildings and details and the gothic pillars frame the view very well. Interesting workshops too, but the weather looks much worse on the selfie than on the photo of the tower. It must have changed quickly. 538 steps, most of them probably very steep, sounds a lot.
Kind regards,
Gert

No_One (4) 2016-11-07 6:14

Hi Malgo
that is a fine dizzying view of the square, you chose a perfect angle to shoot this from to take in so much of the view and capture the sense of the height here. Very nicely done, and well done on climbing all those steps, the shot indicates how difficult that would be!
Best wishes
Noel

mehrdad-t (4710) 2016-11-07 6:43

Hello,
Superb artistic detail.
Great catch,
well seen.
Mehrdad

Sergiom (117241) 2016-11-07 6:45

Ciao Malgo,

Tu es mont閑 bien haut pour prendre cette photo. Mais les colonnes t'on offert un cadre superbe tout en donnant de la profondeur � l'ensemble. Belle foule sur les terrasses de la place.

Amicalement

Serge

rychem (72179) 2016-11-07 8:08

Ratusz jak bombonierka, ludziki jak mr體ki, a ich cienie daja poczucie trojwymiarowosci
pozdrawiam Ryszard

PiotrF (52330) 2016-11-07 9:46

Czesc Malgo
Tam to dopiero moze sie zakrecic w glowie. W miescie bardzo czuje wysokosc, ot taki lek ktorego pozbywam sie raczej pozbywam w gorach:)
Swietny widok z tej wiezy , ladnie obramowany. W warsztacie mozna sprawdzic z ktorego miejsca robione zdjecie.
Dobra jakosc, ciekawa prezentacja
pozdrawiam
Piotr

GyurMaster (21349) 2016-11-07 10:15

Dear Malgo,

I think it totally worth the effort. I'm glad to learn that you didn't take any selfies.

Best Wishes,
Gy.

Cricri (176) 2016-11-07 10:26

Hi Malgo
Houl� j'aurai aimer monter avec toi, pff 200 de plus qu'a la montagne de Bueren :-)
une vue fantastique ....bien r閏ompenser
belle soir閑
bisous
cricri

adramad (67000) 2016-11-07 10:56

Hello Malgo.
Stunning view of the square from the top of the tower of the cathedral, the beautiful buildings and people, it seems as if watching a miniature city.
Very nice colorful in tones, very attractive.
Good management brightness and superb sharpness.
Very well done. My congratulations.
All the best and have a good start to the week.
Luis.

carlo62 (81265) 2016-11-07 14:48

Ciao Malgo
mi sembrano veramente molti 538 scalini!!!!
Non credo che riuscirei a salire su questa torre...
Complimenti per l'impresa e per le foto.
Saluti
Carlo

lousat (129957) 2016-11-07 15:02

Hi Malgo,a long and difficult staircase to go to the top,but the view is absolutely great! A very sharp capture despite the protection and the distance,i like a lot the 2 WS especially the full view of the tower. Have a nice day and thanks,Luciano

bukitgolfb301 (53894) 2016-11-07 17:58

Hi dear Malgo

538 steps (I think you did) made you very precious gift as such. So wonderful panorama view. You set big pillors at both sides, that are so nice framework in this shot. So stunning image as your own specilaity.

All the best and have a good day! Takero

BennyV (32570) 2016-11-08 0:34

Wow, this is a terrific view down, Malgo. I climbed up the tower a while ago too, but your picture still brings an element of surprise. Great frame-in-frame, excellent sharpness and coulours. Absolutely love this one!

A big cheers

Benny

Silvio1953 (205719) 2016-11-08 0:41

Ciao cara Malgo, I cannot take this photo, vertigini for me and too muco stairs, I'm too old for that, great POV and excellent clarity, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

Tue (82232) 2016-11-08 1:19

Hello Malgo,
Wow, what a great view of the square in Mechelen. I recognise the city hall in the background and the small building in the middle of the square, which reflects the city hall so wonderfully, as we both know. The many tiny people look really nice from here too. Very well captured and thank you for the research you did on my previous photo!
Lars

macondo (20449) 2016-11-08 1:36

Hi Malgo!
Wonderful shot you have here, from a great viewpoint. So full of things to look at, the details, the people, and of course you have lovely colours and lighting. A great way to capture the city hall from up there. Very well done.
Regards,
Andrew

PaulVDV (54853) 2016-11-08 13:14

Hello Malgo,
This is a view I've never seen in reality. I really should go and climb those 538 stairs.
This is absolutely a stunning view.
Very nicely framed.
Best regards, Paul

mkamionka (61226) 2016-11-08 13:45

Czesc Malgorzata,
uwielbiam widoki z gory. Bardzo orginalnie to skadrowalas. Wodk placu tak ladnie obramowany jest detalami wiezy. Ciesze sie ze zalaczylas rowniez widok samej wiezy. Jakos zupelnie nie przypominam sobie zebym slyszal o tym miejscu.
Widze ze swoj lek wysokosci pozostawilas gdzies na dole...
Piekne miejsce, atrakcyjna prezentacja!
M

ChrisJ (160008) 2016-11-10 6:03

Hello Malgo,

You weren't joking about climbing towers in Belgium. A superb downward view that was worth the effort. The Antwerp Piazza looks great from this angle. Tfs!

macjake (96157) 2016-11-17 23:39

Hi Malgo
so you climbed all the way up here? good for you, at least it was in sections, not all in one go.

and I understand the problem with blocked pov's for safety concerns, thats ok, I think we've all had that problem from time to time on these tall towers.

even in this split view, we can get an excellent view of the buildings below, lots of steep rooflines, lots of colours, and depth. fun shot. thanks for this one.
cheers
Craig