Occupying a significant chunk of the city's stunning stadhuis, the new-in-2012 MOU still feels fresh. It presents the visitor with an impressive multimedia presentation on a millennia of local history; there are also displays of silverware and a priceless collection of 16th-century Oudenaarde tapestries. The website has details on visiting exhibitions.
MOU Museum
Northwest Belgium
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb
15.43 MILES
Art enthusiasts swarm the Sint-Baafskathedraal to glimpse The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (De Aanbidding van het Lams God), a lavish representation of…
21.63 MILES
Set on the grounds of a former Cistercian Abbey, this 65-hectare park is home to more than 5000 animals (including pandas, koalas, gorillas and lemurs)…
18.92 MILES
Dominating Tournai’s skyline are the five spires of its remarkable cathedral, which survived WWII bombs only for a freak 1999 tornado to compromise its…
13.49 MILES
Founded in 1242, this is Belgium’s only medieval convent-farm-hospital complex to have survived reasonably intact. Laboriously restored, it demonstrates…
27.94 MILES
Inaugurated in 1892, Lille's illustrious Fine Arts Museum claims France's second-largest collection after Paris' Musée du Louvre. Its cache of sublime…
18.97 MILES
Tournai’s gorgeous triangular main square is ringed with cafes in fine gable-fronted guildhouses merrily flying guild banners. Kids play in ‘dare-you’…
29.93 MILES
Bruges’ most celebrated art gallery boasts an astonishingly rich collection that's strong in superb Flemish Primitive and Renaissance works, depicting the…
29.9 MILES
In the restored chapel of a 12th-century hospital building with superb timber beamwork, this museum shows various torturous-looking medical implements,…
Nearby Northwest Belgium attractions
0.01 MILES
Oudenaarde’s impressive market square is dominated by this gorgeous town hall, built in the secular Brabantine Gothic style. The building houses the MOU…
0.09 MILES
At the southwestern corner of Markt, this imposing church was cobbled together from a 13th-century chancel and a 15th-century Brabantine Gothic tower…
3. Centrum De Ronde van Vlaanderen
0.12 MILES
Fans of the Tour of Flanders (De Ronde) – and lovers of cycling in general – shouldn't miss this state-of-the-art museum, featuring displays on the…
1.49 MILES
This museum of archaeology and local history occupies a site that in AD 925 was one of three main defences along the border between pre-medieval France…
10.92 MILES
Thought to have been originally constructed around the 13th and 14th centuries, and reconstructed in 1595 after much savagery and repeated pillaging,…
12.92 MILES
This simple, sweetly old-fashioned museum has no one distinct theme but features rooms with small collections of artefacts as diverse as matchboxes,…
13.2 MILES
Combining the local tourist office and the former Manneken-Pismuseum, this compact museum has a variety of multimedia introductions to the trades and…
13.24 MILES
Brussels isn't the only city in which a little boy statue relieves himself. Indeed, many locals insist that Geraardsbergen's Manneken Pis is the original…