5. Museum aan de Stroom (MAS)
Antwerp’s municipal museum is housed in a fine example of modern architecture that features a geometric configuration of variegated stone and wave-shaped glass panels. This 10-story building resembles a child’s block puzzle, and sits overlooking the harbor on the former site of the Hanseatic warehouse.
The museum’s exhibits include a true variety of topics. Local subjects include a gastronomic history of the city on the 5th floor and a look at Antwerp’s former role as the largest trade and shipping port in the world. The rooftop, which is open on top but enclosed with glass walls, affords tourists a full 360-degree view of the city and the port; here is where you will find the Saluting Admiral Couple sculpture created by local artist Guillaume Bijl.
Additional exhibits focus on international topics, including explorations of mankind’s approach to death and spirituality throughout various cultures, as well as the ways that cultures around the world celebrate rites of passage. The 8th floor is dedicated to one of Europe’s largest collections of pre-Columbian American art, focusing on the relationship between the native cultures and their gods.
The museum also has a unique storage area on the second floor, which allows visitors to view the racks filled with over 180,000 items that have yet to be placed into exhibit space. In total, the museum is home to over 500,000 pieces in its collection.
6. Plantin-Moretus Museum
In 1576, Christophe Plantin the printer who hailed originally from France, moved into a house he christened «De gulden Passer» – the Golden Compasses – south of the Grote Markt. The house, lived in by Plantin and his Moretus family heirs is now a supreme example of Flemish Renaissance architecture. Today, the building is the Plantin-Moretus Museum incorporating the history of printing as well as showcasing the atmosphere of an Old Flemish patrician house.
The original furnishings, wide-ranging exhibits, and above all, the still tangible atmosphere arising from the proximity of home and workplace make this museum one of Antwerp’s most fascinating tourist attractions.
If you’re short on time, make a beeline for Room 7, devoted to the history of books and the processes involved in their production, from the earliest forms of writing and development of the alphabet – exhibits include important archaeological finds and manuscripts – to Johannes Gutenberg and the invention of letterpress printing using movable type. And afterwards, don’t miss Room 24, which is a celebration of the art of printing in Europe as a whole, the jewel in the crown being a 36-line Gutenberg Bible on display here.
