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North of Brussels, Belgium is entirely Flemish-speaking. The provinces of East and West Flanders, Antwerp, Limburg and North Brabant represent one-third of the Belgian federation, and their people have maintained a distinctive cultural and linguistic identity. It's dull countryside on the whole, but a string of fine historic cities more than compensates. Antwerp , a large old port with many reminders of its sixteenth-century golden age, is due north of Brussels. Between the two is the ecclesiastical capital of the country, Mechelen , which merits a brief stop, while to the west is the heartland of Flemish-speaking Belgium, a stupendously prosperous region in the Middle Ages and home to much of the country's industrial base. There are many reminders of the area's medieval greatness, but the most vivid lie to the west in the ancient cloth cities of Ghent and Bruges , whose well-preserved old centres hold marvellous collections of early Flemish art.
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