9 Brussels museums you’ve never been to

Brussels is full of museums. You’ve roamed the galleries of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, seen the latest exhibition in the Bozar, and peered into a Velociraptor’s mouth at the Institute of Natural Sciences. But in the quirky city of Brussels, there are certainly some peculiar collections that you’ve overlooked.

Sure, you might have found your way into the Fencing Museum (Musée de l’Escrime) on a visit to Autoworld, but what about the Confederate Museum, which honours the American Confederate Army of the U.S. Civil War (the side that fought to split the United States and preserve slavery)?

This guide celebrates the tiny, poor and truly niche museums perfect for a cold winter's day.

1. Museum of Spontaneous Art

Much more charming than its website makes it appear, this Schaerbeek museum offers a charming spot dedicated to artists who reject the academy and create without restraint. Embracing self-taught artists and experimental forms, it is focused on popular and traditional art. Currently, the museum holds a permanent collection of over 200 works as well as regular theme-based exhibitions, all for the low price of €2 for a standard ticket (€1 for discounted groups). A perfect place to pop into for an hour on a rainy afternoon in the City of Donkeys.

27 Rue de la Constitution
1030 Brussels

2. Sewers Museum

Not for the claustrophobic, Brussels’ sewer museum (open only to pre-arranged groups, not individual visits) will leave you with a new appreciation for sewage and the people that work with it. A 50-metre walk through an underground sewage pipes coming off of the River Senne gives visitors a taste of the enormity and intricacy of the 350 kilometres of sewers snaking their way below Brussels’ streets.

Porte d'Anderlecht
1000 Brussels

3. Brussels Museum of Mill and Food

A positively bucolic gem nestled in Evere, this old mill has been converted into a museum whose permanent collection tells the story of Belgium’s milling heritage, from prehistory to today. Also, there is a regular turnover of concise, well-done temporary exhibitions on food-related themes, from forgotten vegetables to the history of breakfast. Outside, vegetables are grown and downstairs a large kitchen is available for cooking courses and workshops.

Rue du Moulin à Vent 21 / Rue du Tilleul 189
1140 Evere

4. International Marionette Museum

Nearly 4000 marionettes reside in this tiny small Ixelles museum. It sits together with the Théâtre Royal du Peruchet, a children’s puppet theatre that has been entertaining Brussels’ youth since 1919. Every Wednesday afternoon, the theatre puts on puppet performances. On Saturdays, classes for adults will teach how to how to make and manipulate marionettes.

Museum tickets are free when you come to see a performance
50 Avenue de la Forêt
1050 Brussels

5. Museum of Fantastic Art

Where else but Brussels might a museum contain the “the morphological symbiosis between a woman and a spider”? This quirky museum-meets-house-of-horrors, located right next to the Horta Museum on the edge of Saint Gilles and Ixelles, dedicates itself to displaying the bizarre, the spooky, the non-sensical through all mediums of art. It also hosts regularly activities, mostly for children, aimed at instilling a sense of the surreal in Brussels for generations to come.

Rue Américaine 7
1060 Brussels

6. Beguinage of Anderlecht

In a quiet corner of Anderlecht, this tiny, 13th-century beguinage once held only eight beguines (deeply devout Christian laywomen who lived in convent-like religious communities apart from the greater society). Today, the house’s small rooms host a collection of archaeological and religious items that document the history of the Anderlecht commune. The Anderlecht Beguinage and the nearby Eramus House, are the oldest communal museums in Belgium.

Entrance €1.25 for the Erasmus House and Beguinage
Rue du Chapelain 8
1070 Brussels

7. Belgian Museum of Freemasonry

Trying to dispel a reputation of secrecy and exclusion, the Belgian society of Free Masons have opened their headquarters as a museum to teach the public about the organisation. Wandering the halls of the stately meeting quarters, you will learn the history of the Freemasonry internationally and in Belgium and learn about their rites, customs and initiation practices.

Entrance €6
Rue de Laeken 73-75
1000 Brussels

Photo © le Clockarium - Lefrancq, Mons.