Musée de l’orfèvrerie de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles

About the museum

The Musée de l’orfèvrerie de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, open to the public since September 1995, occupies the château of Seneffe, an 18th-century country residence built by Julien Depestre and Isabelle Cogels. The estate also includes a theatre, an orangery, an aviary and a 22-hectare English-style park with a French formal garden.

The museum holds 8,649 objects: mainly 18th-century civil silverware, but also paintings, furniture, decorative art objects, photographs, archives and tools of the silversmith’s trade. The heart of the collection is the sumptuous collection of European civil silverware assembled by a Belgian private collector, Claude D’Allemagne, and his wife Juliette Rémy; after their deaths, furniture and decorative art objects were added. The Communauté française, the owner of the site, then supplemented the collection with purchases, mostly silverware made in our regions, but also French and English pieces.

The permanent exhibition “D’un jour à l’autre. Le XVIIIe siècle”, with a new scenography, brings to life the imagined daily routine of the château’s residents, based on an almanac written by the estate’s bailiff. The set of silver tureens by Jean-François Joseph Beghin is listed as a treasure.

Highlights

• The finest silverware collection in Belgium, in an 18th-century château
• Permanent exhibition “D’un jour à l’autre. Le XVIIIe siècle”
• Silver tureens by Jean-François Joseph Beghin, listed as treasures
• 22-hectare English-style park, theatre and orangery
• Free family apps and a guide app for the permanent exhibition

Permanent exhibition

• D’un jour à l’autre. Le XVIIIe siècle – Permanent exhibition bringing to life the imagined daily routine of 18th-century château residents, based on an almanac written by the estate’s bailiff, alongside the silverware and decorative arts collections.

Founded

1995

Operated by

Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (Communauté française de Belgique)

Admission & discounts

Free admission: First Sunday of the month (except access to the paid temporary exhibition)

Park and garden free of charge. Free entry for holders of an AIAP card, a tourist guide card, an ICOM card, a Passeport 365.be or a museum pass (individual visitors only, excluding guided tours). The museumPASSmusées is sold on site for €64.95 or €12.95 (Article 27 social rate).

Accessibility

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

Château museum and park certified by Access-i. No steps inside the rooms and a lift, but one step at the entrance, at least one ramp that is too steep, a narrow lift (door of 80 to 85 cm) and accessible toilets that are hard to reach. Reserved parking spaces more than 100 m from the entrance. Guided tours adapted for touch, smell and hearing are available on booking; a tour in Belgian French-speaking sign language is available on request. Assistance dogs are admitted, other animals are not.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Kids’ birthday parties

Two free family apps: “Joséphine au château”, in which a little mouse guides visitors through the secret places, and “Abel et Steve au parc”. Children under 12 enter free. Three-hour birthday parties with a costumed tour, a workshop (hot chocolate or 18th-century make-up) and a reception.

Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop
• Coat check
• Lockers

Shop selling tableware, decorative arts and books. Free cloakroom with lockers for coats and large bags. For guided groups: breakfast, lunch of the day, brunch or afternoon tea options.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Private parties
• Corporate events
• Weddings / ceremonies

Up to 700 guests.

Orangery (up to 700 people, 300 seated) with a seminar room in the attic (112 people), theatre (up to 90 people) and château salons. Wedding photos are possible with permission.

Plan your visit