Explore Mechelen

The Grote Markt is the main square of Mechelen, covering about one hectare beside St. Rumbold's Cathedral. The City Hall stands on it, and historic houses line it, among them De Beyaerd with its stepped gable and four lions, bought by the city in 1383, and In het Haentien of 1773 with a gilded cockerel on its gable.

St. Rumbold's Cathedral is the metropolitan cathedral of the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels, begun shortly after 1200 and consecrated in 1312. Its unfinished tower, built from 1452 to 1520, is 97 metres high and part of the UNESCO-listed Belfries of Belgium and France; inside are Anthony van Dyck's Crucifixion and a high altar by Lucas Faydherbe.

Hof van Busleyden is an early 16th-century town palace in Mechelen, built from 1503 to 1507 for Hieronymus van Busleyden to plans by Rombout II Keldermans. Its brick wings, arcaded gallery and tower surround a garden, and the museum inside presents Mechelen in the Burgundian period, when Margaret of Austria held court in the city.

Kazerne Dossin is a memorial, museum and research centre on the Holocaust and human rights in Mechelen. Between 1942 and 1944, 25,490 Jews and 353 Roma were deported from these barracks in 28 transports, mostly to Auschwitz-Birkenau. The old barracks hold the memorial, and the museum, opened in 2012, stands in a new building across the square.

Museum of toys and play, founded in 1982 and since autumn 2024 housed in new premises beneath Mechelen railway station, by the kiss-and-ride zone. Its collection runs from old dolls, tin toys and model trains to construction sets and board games, and visitors can try games themselves, including the children's games shown in Pieter Bruegel's painting.

Flemish science and technology centre in Mechelen, opened in February 2000, where visitors try out experiments themselves. Exhibits include riding a bicycle along a cable five metres up, lying on a bed of nails and landing a plane in a simulator; there are science shows at weekends and in school holidays, and separate zones for young children and teenagers.

Zoo in Muizen, Mechelen, run by the Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, which bought the Planckendael estate in 1956 and opened it to the public in 1960. Animals are grouped by continent in open, landscaped enclosures, including elephants, rhinos, bonobos and giraffes, and the estate's castle of 1780 stands at the old main entrance.