The City Hall is one of several majestic buildings constructed in the 16th century, when Antwerp was one of the largest and most important cities in the world. The city hall is considered the most important Renaissance building in the Low Countries and influenced the design of many government buildings across North and Central Europe.During the middle of the 16th century, Antwerp's old gothic city hall, built in 1406, had become too small for the rapidly expanding city, at the time known simply as 'the Metropolis'. The city council decided to build a new city hall just north of the existing one. Having just become the world's most powerful commercial center - eclipsing cities such as Bruges, Genoa and even Venice - the new building was to become a symbol of the city's wealth and power.