Search

Historic Houses Platform

The Museum Plantin-Moretus is part of the Historic Houses Flanders platform. This is a group of important houses that are open to the public. It focuses on conservation, management, policy and cooperation.

Become a Sponsor

Sponsor the Museum Plantin-Moretus, a unique piece of world heritage. Become our corporate Partner. And help preserve the Museum for the future.

A building's 400-year history

Christophe Plantin’s house and workshop have been transformed several times in the course of more than 400 years. Find out here how the Officina Plantiniana metamorphosed into the Museum Plantin-Moretus.

The printing works

The printing works is the heart of the Plantin mansion. It contains the two oldest printing presses in the world, dating from around 1600. The six other presses are still in working order. Discover the workflow of a 16th-century printing works here.

The Great Library

The Great Library is arranged like a well-stocked private library of the 17th century. It was founded by Christophe Plantin and expanded by Balthasar I and his successors. The curators of the Museum Plantin-Moretus have expanded the collection of Officina Plantiniana editions.

The garden

Together with the attractive building, the courtyard had already turned his home into a tourist attraction in Plantin’s own time. Kings, princes and prominent figures came to visit. In the garden you can see and smell popular plants from the 16th and 17th centuries.

Leading ladies

The house and the familyowned company survived for three hundred years. This was largely the work of a group of strong, emancipated women. Their names are Martina Plantin (1550 – 1616), Anna Goos (1627 – 1691), Anna-Maria de Neuf (1654 – 1714) and Maria-Theresia Borrekens (1728 – 1797). They managed the company for long periods of time, guaranteeing its continuity.

Home

Visiting the museum with a group

Guided tours, creative workshops, printing demonstrations and day programmes: come to the museum with your group and make the visit more lively or varied with our group options.

Printing demonstrations

During a printing demonstration, you will find out all about printing with lead type, how the letters are made and how to use them to make up sentences. You will see the typeset text being put on the press and printed off. Would you like to try typesetting and printing yourself? Then there is the workshop on ‘Casting and setting type and printing’.