Kina

About the museum

Kina goes back to the Schoolmuseum, which opened on 25 October 1924 in the Berouw in Ghent. In 1922 the Ghent city council had made a former trade school for typesetters available. Teacher Leo Michel Thiery, who had a great love of nature, became its curator. The first collection consisted of an educational collection, stuffed animals, stones, fossils, dried plants and seaweeds; the museum also had the first public herb garden in Belgium and the Netherlands.

In 1960 the museum was reorganised and moved to the Sint-Pietersplein, where it was called the Schoolmuseum Michel Thiery. The original building in the Berouw was later renovated and the plant garden was completely relaid; in 1987 the Hortus Michel Thiery reopened. In 2001 the Flemish Community recognised both sections as a museum of regional level.

In 2003 the museum was given the name De wereld van Kina, in which Kina stands for Kind en Natuur (child and nature). The House on the Sint-Pietersplein and the Garden on the Berouw together form one museum of the City of Ghent. On 24 October 2024 the museum celebrated its centenary; since then it has simply been called Kina. In the House are the natural history collection and exhibitions on dinosaurs, the sea, stones and birds; in the Garden there is a botanical garden with insects, spiders and bees.

Highlights

• Dinorama: a journey back to the life of millions of years ago
• Susketwiet, the bird room with a listening story and touch trail, also accessible to blind and partially sighted visitors
• Kei-Cool on stones and minerals and Zee in Zicht on life in the sea
• Play attic and treasure hunts for children
• The Garden with botanical garden, spiders, insects and bee colonies

Permanent exhibitions

• Dinorama – In the House you walk into a vanished world and discover what life on earth looked like millions of years ago.
• Kei-Cool – This exhibition in the House shows stones and minerals and explains how tectonic plates move and what rocks are.
• Boomvol – In the Garden you discover the world of a four-hundred-year-old summer oak, from small animals to roots and fungi underground.

Founded

1924

Operated by

Stad Gent

Admission & discounts

Free admission: Ghent residents: on the first Sunday of the month and during the Ghent Festivities.

With one ticket you can visit both locations (House and Garden) within six months. Buy your ticket at the museum desk; advance booking is not necessary. Free admission with Museumpassmusées, City Card Gent, ICOM card and press card (by arrangement with the communications officer). The botanical garden at the Garden is free to visit; you pay for the museum building and the treasure hunts.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The House can be fully visited by wheelchair via the entrance on the Kantienberg; there is a lift and several stairlifts, and an accessible toilet. The museum building of the Garden has no level differences or floors, but there is no accessible toilet there and some unpaved paths in the botanical garden are difficult to navigate. In the bird room Susketwiet, blind and partially sighted visitors can move around independently thanks to guide lines, braille on the handrail, a listening story and a touch trail. Assistance dogs are admitted.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Hands-on stations
• Playground / play area

All exhibitions, wall texts and image and sound fragments are designed for children. There are treasure hunts for different ages, for example the Tinkeltuin for children aged 3 to 6 in the Garden, and children can play in the play attic of the House. A few small folding buggies are available to borrow free of charge at the museum desks; the House is a historic building with stairs and a lift, and the paths in the botanical garden are unpaved. Children under 16 must always remain under the supervision of an adult.

Getting there & parking

The museum is in Ghent’s low-emission zone. There is an uncovered bicycle parking area at both entrances. The two locations are about 3 km apart.

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop
• Coat check
• Lockers

At both locations there are free lockers and a cloakroom; coats, rucksacks, large bags and umbrellas may not be taken into the rooms. Eating and drinking are not permitted in the museum; groups can request a lunch room. The museum shop sells gadgets, fossils and shells.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit