1. Magritte museum (Royal museums of Fine Arts)
Open in 2009 in the heart of Brussels, the Magritte Museum is located in an old neoclassical building in the Place Royale. The museum has over 200 works of the Belgian surrealist painter, René Magritte. This exceptional collection consists of paintings, gouaches, drawings, sculptures, painted objects, posters,... and it gives to the museum an international reputation.
The works belong to the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, mainly from purchases and legacies from Irène Scutenaire-Hamoir and Georgette Magritte. Many collectors, as well as public and private institutions, have also joined the project of the Magritte Museum by lending their masterpieces.
Spread over three floors, the museum offers a chronological and thematic path of Magritte's work.
For more information, visit www.musee-magritte-museum.be
2. MIM - Musical Instruments museum
At the heart of Mont des Arts, close to the Place Royale, the Musical Instrument Museum holds two remarkable buildings: the neoclassical building Barnabé Guimard, located at the corner of the Place Royale and Old England.
Founded in 1877, the MIM is one of the most important museums of musical instruments in the world. Its collections include more than 8,000 instruments, but only 1,200 are shown in the museum galleries. The museum has the largest collection of non-specialized instruments in the world and is the fourth department of the Royal Museums of Art and History.
An infrared headphone system allows visitors to hear almost 200 excerpts in connection with the exposed instruments.
Throughout the year, the museum offers workshops, guided tours and all kinds of activities for all ages. MIM program also concerts and screenings, conferences etc.
For more information, visit www.mim.be
3. BELvue (museum)
Located in the Bellevue Hotel, close to the Royal Palace of Brussels, forming the corner from the Place des Palais and the Place Royale, the BELvue Museum is the current museum of the History of Belgium, from the independence of the country (1830) until today.
Through original historical documents, audiovisual testimonies, etc., visitors can discover the major periods of History of Belgium. Twelve rooms are devoted to the major periods of History,
The study of some determinants points helps us understand today's Belgium, such as the fight for universal suffrage, the World Wars and the Royal Question, the Golden sixties or the recent state reforms.
A continuous trail will also show the reign of each king through a selection of works and characteristic portraits of the personality of the sovereigns and the image of the royal family to the population.
For more information, visit www.belvue.be
Museums in Brussels
Brussels has a long history and has many various and interesting museums that you can visit everyday. You can find below the list of the top 5 museums in Brussels.
4. Museum of Natural Sciences
The Museum of Natural Sciences in Brussels houses the largest collection of dinosaurs in Europe.
Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops, Diplodocus, and many others whose national pride, the original fossils from the huge collection of Iguanodons share the spotlight with many other species to be discovered in the halls of the Museum.
For more information, visit www.naturalsciences.be/en
5. Museum of the City of Brussels
The Brussels City Museum, also known as the King's House, is located in the historic heart of Brussels on the Grand Place, the most famous place in the capital. It is housed in a neo-Gothic style building, the result of the reconstruction carried out in the 19th century by the architect of the City, Victor Jamaer, to complete the construction of all the houses in the Grand Place.
The King's House is since 2000 a World Heritage Site by UNESCO with all of the Grand Place.
The museum exhibits the history of Brussels with paintings, sculptures and other works. There, you can also discover the room with more than 750 costumes belonging to the Manneken Pis.
For more information, visit www.museedelavilledebruxelles.be/en
