Showing 1-18 of 18 results
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Dagbladmuseum
Those really into printing should consider visiting the Dagbladmuseum. It was here that the world's first newspaper, Nieuwe Tydinghen, was invented by Abraham Verhoeven in 1606. The museum doesn't have standard opening hours, so call ahead.
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De Zwarte Panter
Established in the heady days of 1968, the 'Black Panther' art gallery continues to redefine contemporary art through its exhibitions.
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Diamantmuseum
The city's role as a world diamond centre can be explored at the Diamantmuseum. With an English-language audio guide in hand, start on the 3rd floor and let one of seven virtual guides assist in your quest for the perfect stone. The whole thing is very Antwerp - from the sultry fashions worn by the guides to the proud exhibits showing diamond-studded jeans. There's a special 'touch route' for visually impaired visitors.
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Etnografisch Museum
Next to the stadhuis entrance, the Etnografisch Museum contains a highly respected collection of traditional artefacts from around the world.
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FotoMuseum
Five blocks south of MuHKA and with an excellent reputation is the newly renovated and expanded FotoMuseum. Once again housed in a renovated warehouse, this museum has a huge collection of B&W photographs, old portraits and ancient cameras. One of the highlights is the Keizerspanorama, a huge, motorised, slide-viewing contraption built in 1905 for Antwerp Zoo. In the evening you can take in a golden-oldie film in one of two auditoria.
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Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten
The Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten is a monumental neoclassical edifice built at the end of the 19th century. Its stately rooms house an impressive collection of paintings dating from the 14th century to contemporary times and includes works by Flemish masters.
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Maagdenhuis
In the 16th and 17th centuries the Maagdenhuis was an orphanage and refuge for girls of poor families. Today it's home to a small art collection. As you enter, note the delicate sandstone carvings of young girls above the archway. Of the museum's exhibits, the most nostalgic items are the playing cards, or identification tokens. These cards were cut in half when girls were brought into the refuge - one piece was retained by the parent and the other kept with the child.
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Mode Museum
Fashion followers must start with Antwerp's mode museum, MoMu. It's located in the much-celebrated ModeNatie complex, home also to both the Flanders Fashion Institute and the fashion department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Sticking firmly to avant-garde, MoMu changes its exhibits every six months.
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ModeNatie
Antwerp's mode museum, MoMu is located in the much-celebrated ModeNatie complex, home also to both the Flanders Fashion Institute and the fashion department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts.
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Museum aan de Stroom
Due to open in 2008, the purpose-built multistorey Museum aan de Stroom is located between two docks - Bonapartedok and Willemdok - in the flourishing 't Eilandje district. Architecturally it's expected to be a big draw, designed like a modern spiral tower with a panorama platform offering city views. It will bring together exhibits of the city's history from its earliest beginnings to recent times. Some existing museums, like the Scheepvaartmuseum, will lose all or some of their content.
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Museum Mayer Van den Bergh
Museum Mayer Van den Bergh occupies a simulated 16th-century townhouse, built in 1904 by the mother of Fritz Mayer Van den Bergh, a prosperous art connoisseur who had died a few years earlier aged 41. His highly prized collection of sculptures and paintings, including works by Quinten Matsijs and Cornelius De Vos, form the core of the museum.
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Museum Plantin-Moretus
The World Heritage-listed Museum Plantin-Moretus is home to the world's first industrial printing works. This fascinating museum deals with a prosperous 16th- and 17th-century printing family headed by Christoffel Plantin. Plantin moved from France to Antwerp where he set up as a bookbinder in 1548. Eight years later he started a printing business that eventually became the Low Countries' largest printing and publishing concern and a magnet for intellectuals, scientists and humanists.
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Museum Van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen
The Museum voor Hedendaagse Kunst Van Antwerpen is housed behind an Art Deco façade in a building that started life as a grain silo. It contains a permanent collection of Belgian and international art dating from the 1970s onwards, although only a fraction is displayed at any one time. Temporary exhibitions are often staged. Bus 23 (direction Zuid) from Franklin Rooseveltplaats stops nearby.
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Museum Vleeshuis/Klank van de Stad
Due east of the Steen is the striking Vleeshuis, or Museum Vleeshuis/Klank van de Stad. This building, with its red-and-white layered stonework, was the 14th-century headquarters of the butchers' guild. It's now a new music museum, known as Klank van de Stad, home to instruments specifically related to Antwerp. Time a visit with a concert given on one of the old instruments - the tourist office has the schedule.
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Nationaal Scheepvaartmuseum Steen
This engaging museum houses model ships, maritime maps and instruments in the gatehouse and front section (which is all that remains) of the 13th-century castle, Steen. Highlights include an intriguing nautical totem shaped like a snake's head and boats from around the world, including an 18th-century coracle or skin boat. Beneath the next-door raised promenade is the museum's open-air collection of river barges, canal boats and De Schelde P905, a 1950's Belgian navy patrol ship.
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Onze Lieve Vrouwekathedraal
The splendid Onze Lieve Vrouwekathedraal is the largest and finest Gothic cathedral in Belgium. It was 169 years in the making (1352-521) and the work of several architects (Appelmans, Domien and Keldermans). Its graceful 123m-high spire was a mighty landmark in early times and is still visible from kilometres around today.
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Red Star Line Museum
A museum in the pipeline for the 't Eilandje district is the Red Star Line Museum. It will tell the story of the three-million Europeans who immigrated via Antwerp to the US and Canada. Ask the tourist office for up-to-date details on both museums.
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Rockoxhuis
The Rockoxhuis is a 17th-century mansion that once belonged to Nicolaas Rockox, a former city mayor and friend and patron of Rubens. It's built around a central courtyard, is furnished in classical Flemish style, and holds a small but esteemed collection of paintings, including works by Rubens, Jordaens, Van Dyck and Pieter Breughel the Younger.
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Showing 1-18 of 18 results
