Reopening of the Plantin-Moretus Museum

07/09/2016

On 30 September 2016, the Plantin-Moretus Museum will be reopening its doors to the public. With a new museum layout, a new collection storage and a new reading room the museum is ready for new adventures. The museum’s redesigned arrangement will guide the visitor in the footsteps of its founder Christophe Plantin and of his descendants, the Moretus family.

The Plantin-Moretus Museum is the continuation of the Officina Plantiniana, the most prestigious printing and publishing house in 16th century Europe, stemming from the Renaissance and the baroque period and preserved until today. The printing and publishing house was founded in 1555 by Christophe Plantin (1520-1589) in Antwerp. The Plantin-Moretus Museum and its Print Room were selected in 2005 as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It is the only museum worldwide to figure on this list.  

The museum describes the art of printing from the 16th to the 18th century. The Officina Plantiniana remained active until 1867 thanks to Christophe Plantin and further on to his son-in-law Jan Moretus  (1543-1610). Ten years later, the site was sold to the city of Antwerp and transformed into a museum with an important collection of valuable objects making us witness the life and work in these premises.  This monument steeped in history is still fully equipped ;  today it houses the oldest printing presses in the world and tells us the story of nearly 300 years of printing with the necessary details and information.  

Its growth and its history during these centuries go hand in hand with a period when scientists in the Low Countries – presently Belgium and the Netherlands – occupied an important position in the deepening of western thinking. Hence, the Officina Plantiniana provides a representation of the large-scale cultural movements of the West.

Come and discover the oldest printing presses in the world,  inhale the scent of wood and ink and travel back in time to long-gone centuries !