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Photo: via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Features Belgium's history. Before it became a museum, the 18th-century luxury hotel was a royal residence.
The BELvue Museum is a museum in the Royal Quarter of Brussels, Belgium, focusing on the history of Belgium. It is managed by the King Baudouin Foundation (KBF).
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Musée du Coudenberg
From the middle ages, a castle overlooked Brussels from Coudenberg hill. From the 12th century, the successive monarchs and their representatives transformed a small fortified castle into a sumptuous residential palace, one of the most beautiful palace of Europe and one of Charles V’s main residences. This prestigious building is severely damaged by fire in 1731. Some forty years later, the ruins of the palace are pulled down and the ground flattened out for the construction of the new royal district. The remains of this palace make up the Coudenberg archaeological site. During your visit, you will discover the Isabella Street and the old structures of the main buildings of the former palace of Brussels, which are now the foundations for today’s royal district and the Hoogstraeten House where the most interesting discoveries made during the various archaeological excavations conducted on the Coudenberg are displayed.
Église Saint-Jacques-sur-Coudenberg/Sint-Jacob-op-Koudenbergkerk
A neoclassical church on the historic King's Square, overlooking the lower city and offering a magnificent view over the Grand-Place (particularly at dusk!). It started as a medieval abbey church, which was demolished by Charles Alexander of Lorraine during his expansive urban planning projects, despite having escaped the great fire of 1731 that destroyed the nearby Coudenberg Palace. The church was designed by architect Gilles-Barnabé Guimard, and the first stone was laid down by Charles Alexander himself in 1776. After the building's consecration, it was used as an abbey- and parish church simultaneously, and in addition it was the official church of the court of the Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands. Since it was designed to serve the church of the abbey of Saint-Jacques, it has a deep extended choir with place for choir stalls for the monks. During the French Revolution, as with all other religious buildings, the abbey was suspended and the church converted into a Temple of Reason, but restored to Catholic control in 1802. It played an important role in the inception of the Belgian monarchy 30 years later, when the first Belgian king, Leopold I, made his oath on the front steps of the church. Although the building lost some of its typical neoclassical temple-like appearance by the addition of a bell tower in the 19th century and a coloured fresco on the pediment, it remains one of the most unusual examples of religious architecture in Brussels.
Musée des Instruments de Musique/Muziekinstrumentenmuseum
The museum houses more than 7000 instruments, from all times and all over the world. The museum’s reputation is built on its extraordinary collection. The exhibits are displayed on four different floors featuring a wide range of instruments from all time periods and areas of the world. The MIM is a place to experience music. An infrared headphone system allows each visitor to enjoy the sound and melodies played by the instruments presented. The restaurant on the roof is also famous because of its panoramic view over Brussels. You need around 3 or 4 hours to really enjoy the whole museum, make sure you have enough time! The ornate façade of the building was decorated as such to promote the work of local tradesman and to protest the loss of jobs due to automation.
This museum is dedicated to the life and art of the Belgian artist René Magritte. It holds a multidisciplinary collection containing more than 200 of Magritte's works. This is part of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium: use the same entrance and ask for a ticket which includes the Magritte Museum.
Cinematek
Museum for cinema, with an exhibition focussing on objects and discoveries that represent the many steps leading to the invention of cinema: from Thomas Edison and the Lumière brothers, through the phenakistiscope of Joseph Plateau. Many displays are interactive, with mechanisms to operate the devices to understand their operation better. Interactive consoles allow visitors to watch short and medium length films, and a small video projection room broadcasts additional images of filmmakers, trailers, commercials, and short films. The archives and library of the film association, along with documentation, books, and magazines, are also on display along with relevant Belgian press cuttings and photos. The museum features 2 rooms: the Ledoux room with 117 seats, and a small auditorium with 29 seats, where 40 films per week are screened. Silent films are accompanied by piano, or with restored sound where available. Until its destruction in 2006, the museum operated the last authentic mute cinema room in the world.
Palais Royal/Koninklijk Paleis
The ceremonial royal palace, where foreign statesmen are received by the King of Belgium. Has a park out front.