Art & History Museum

History museum · Etterbeek

Art & History Museum

History museum · Etterbeek

Parc du Cinquantenaire 10, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium

Highlights

Nestled beside Brussels' triumphal arch, this museum showcases an impressive array of artifacts from Egypt to Belgium, making it a must-visit hidden gem.

Parc du Cinquantenaire 10, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium Get directions

artandhistory.museum

@afar

"A Hidden Gem Museum in Parc Cinquantenaire The Art & history Museum (formerly the Cinquantenaire Museum), located right beside Brussels’ iconic triumphal arch, is one of the best hidden-gem museums of the city. This museum of civilizations is part of the Royal Museums of Art and History. Permanent collections include archaeological artefacts and everyday items from Egypt to South-East Asia, and everywhere in between. Highlights include Egyptian sarcophagi, a mosaic floor from Apamea and one of the famous statues from Easter Island. There is also an impressive collection of Art Deco and Art nouveau items from right here in Belgium."

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Charlotte

Google

Absolutely stunning museum with a fabulous variety of exhibitions from all over the world. The building in itself is fabulous and I got to see so many things from different parts of the world that I had never seen before. The staff were lovely and kind as well. I went on a Friday afternoon and it was so quiet in some parts of the museum I felt like I had it all to myself. (Did get a little spooked by the basement, did not realise there would be a grave site, but even though it did give me goosebumps, it was incredible to see!) Tried not to post too many photos of the actual exhibitions so that the surprise won’t be ruined for people who don’t want to see - mostly just photos of the halls.

Ani

Google

We were there on a rainy Saturday morning. Was sad to see the museum was so empty. But on the other hand it was great that we could really stopped as long as we want to take photos, admire and learn the history from each display. We had spent good 4 hours inside. Certainly will come back to visit the rest. Highly recommended !

kdk

Google

Lovely museum. Bigger then it looks, you'll need a whole day to visit (at least 4hours if you wanna see it all without rushing). My only negative points, i saw nothing about Japan :( and also the hand-washing faucet in the bathroom is blasting water everywhere. Anyway, it was a pleasure to visit. I recommend this museum! Ps: can be visited without a guide as we did, but i think the experience might be even better with one.

Myron Papadimitrakis

Google

Beautiful collections (especially non-european civilisations), but the museum itself, with the exception of some newer rooms, was derelict. Bad lighting, filth inside the exhibit boxes, abysmal condition of labels (bad placement, torn labels, missing etc). These are things that don't require a full blown renovation or money, just... simple attention by the museum authorities. It is disgraceful to have these beautiful artifacts in such complete disregard.

Priyanka Gupta

Google

They have a good Egyptian collection. Gives you a decent overview of the Egyptian history right from start to its end. Took me about 4 hours to go through the Egyptian part. I wanted to reduce one star because it was quite hot inside the Egyptian section but the content made up for it.

Bryan Hernandez-Nieves

Google

This is one of those places that if you go to Brussels, you need to visit is just amazing and so beautiful. The live music was delightful.

Cláudia Fiúza

Google

The museum is really nice, has a really big archeology collection. Take in account that the access might be difficult, there are many stairs overall. Since the collection is so big the visit can easy take 4h.

Valeriya Efimova

Google

Marvelous museum with some fantastic displays located in a gorgeous space. Varied collections on Greece, Rome, Egypt, Native Americans and more. Worth a visit.

Peter G.

Yelp

I tried to do the collection justice in one day, result was impossible. The prehistoric man and Merovingian sections were new and beautifully labelled and displayed. Note, the placards for much of the museum's collection are not also in English. The summaries of the history of each group of peoples was also in English. The Roman collection was displayed in a very dated manner, many of the objects did not have labels. The Islamic collection was outstanding as was the ancient Middle East, in fact the Middle East collection could very well stand on its own. The Mexico, Central America and South America sections were quite varied. So much really to see, I had to run through the Egyptian section just to get a glimpse. If you're as lucky I myself and have visited many of the countries where these pieces are from, then this museum is for you. From what I noted of the other visitors, they really did not have an interest in the collection. Too bad on them.

@afar

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Belgian Royal Spotting in Brussels

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Charlotte

Google

Ani

Google

kdk

Google

Myron Papadimitrakis

Google

Priyanka Gupta

Google

Bryan Hernandez-Nieves

Google

This is one of those places that if you go to Brussels, you need to visit is just amazing and so beautiful. The live music was delightful.

Cláudia Fiúza

Google

Valeriya Efimova

Google

Marvelous museum with some fantastic displays located in a gorgeous space. Varied collections on Greece, Rome, Egypt, Native Americans and more. Worth a visit.

Peter G.

Yelp