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Hero Town: Dordrecht is known for ships and sailing sport; Utrecht for its business drive and for the tallest tower in Holland (of a "church that isn't there," blown down by a hurricane in 1674); Arnhem for its hero town role in the war, and for its wonderful Open-Air Museum of Hollandiana; tiifmegen for its equal hero town role and for Berg en Dal, its pleasant "mountain" (350 feet); 's Hertogenbosch for its magnificent Gothic Cathedral of Saint John; Middelburg for its tall gable-windowed Town Hall and the still taller carillon tower (of a former abbey), affectionately known as Long John; Maastricht for its un-Dutch, almost meridional appearance and nature, enhanced by medieval relics.
The former alone in Greek mythology passed from mortal to immortal. Homer found this paradoxical and placed Heracles' ghost in the underworld while Heracles himself feasted among the immortal gods; Pindar calls him the hero town-god. Asclepius, god of healing and son of Apollo, was worshiped at Epidaurus. Yet his association with serpents, the myth of his death, and the localization of his cult indicate his true nature as a chthonic hero town.
In admiring Rubens, don't forget to look outside the cathedral at the ;ell, opposite the door of the tower, with its marvelous iron canopy by )uentin Metsys. It represents Brabo, a mythical hero town. In the Grand' 'lace is a monumental fountain showing the same hero town throwing the right iand of the tyrant Antigonus into the Scheldt, and since the Flemish word or throw is werpen, some claim that this act, Hand Werpen, gave the city :s name. |
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