In Jette, a valley designated as a Natura 2000 site, an expansive landscape complex and a range of cultural and historical themes sit side by side. These include regional collections, contemporary art and a museum dedicated to René Magritte. If you choose a destination based on its specific highlights, you can explore nature, history and art here rather than focusing your stay on just one theme.
Nature with two distinct facets
The Molenbeek Valley in Jette has been designated a Natura 2000 site by the European Union. The valley is therefore notable for its protected status. Parc Roi Baudouin covers 110 hectares and is a landscape complex of forests, meadows, wetlands, parks and ponds. Here, the emphasis is on the diversity of the landscape features specifically mentioned. This is a useful distinction when deciding where to go: one nature spot is defined by its designation, while the other is characterised by its varied composition.
Traces of regional history
The former prelature of Dieleghem Abbey has been a protected monument since 3 February 1953. The objects in Saint-Pierre Church offer another way to explore religious and architectural history. They include confessionals, statues of saints, paintings and funerary monuments. They come from the former Saint-Pierre churches and the abbey church of Dieleghem. Their origins place the objects within the history of several churches and give them a regional context.
The Musée communal du Comté de Jette preserves Roman collections from excavations carried out in 1968. It also has a library on regional history, considered one of the largest in Belgium. Archaeological collections and regional history reading therefore offer two different ways to explore the past: the finds come from the excavations, while the library focuses on the history of the region.
Art, collections and Magritte
Atelier 34zero Muzeum is an independent contemporary art centre. Founded in 2014, it focuses on sculpture and three-dimensional art. Each year, it organises several exhibitions, either in its own buildings or at other Belgian and international institutions. Its exhibition programme therefore extends beyond its own buildings.
The Musée René Magritte is located in the house where the Belgian surrealist worked and used the ground floor from 1930 to 1954. A visit includes a reconstructed apartment, with mostly authentic furnishings on the ground floor, and a biographical exhibition about the painter on the upper floors. The layout thus combines a glimpse of the reconstructed apartment with a biographical perspective. If you compare the cultural highlights, different forms take centre stage here: Roman collections and regional history, contemporary sculpture and art, and a biographical exhibition about Magritte.
An educational farm
Kinderboerderij van Jette is an educational farm aimed primarily at Brussels schoolchildren aged 4 to 12. Activities are available in Dutch and French. When considering a visit, you can take both the age group and the two languages offered into account.
When choosing between the cultural offerings, it is also useful to distinguish between collections and exhibitions: the Musée communal preserves Roman collections and offers a library on regional history; Atelier 34zero Muzeum focuses on contemporary art and several exhibitions each year. This can help you decide whether you are more interested in historical collections or an exhibition programme focused on sculpture and three-dimensional art.
Discover more destinations: Beersel, Corbais, Tubize, Bierbeek, Leuven, Perwez, Halle, Meise.
For the broader travel overview: Brabant.
