UNESCO has declared Bokrijk an expert in folk culture. This allows the open-air museum in the province Limburg to have input into decisions on whether something can be regarded as Flemish heritage, or even intangible heritage by UNESCO.
© Wikipedia / Brigade Piron
Bokrijk played a role in UNESCO’s recognition of the Belgian beer culture as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2016. This is the second time UNESCO has chosen Bokrijk as an expert - it last occurred in 2010.
The Provincial Domain of Bokrijk, near Genk, is 550 hectares in size. The open-air museum was officially opened on 12th April 1958, and uses over a hundred authentic buildings and utensils to depict daily life from the 17th century to 1950. A further eye-catcher is the arboretum, which houses one of the most extensive collections of plant life in Belgium.
