Liège - Museum of Walloon Life

(Local Name: Musée de la Vie Wallonne) The northeast corner of the palace of the prince-bishops overlooks the Court des Mineurs, the former Minorite monastery built in the 17th C. in the style of the Meuse Renaissance. It houses the Musée de la Vie Wallonne, where 350,000 exhibits and documents illustrate life and culture in the Walloon part of Belgium. The most modern technology and a presentation in four languages make it one of the best museums to visit in Belgium.

In the former chapter house on the ground floor there are temporary exhibitions. The rooms on the first floor are each dedicated to a different theme, for example, national religion, magic, festivals, housework, heating and lighting and craft work. On display are puppets, various workshops (chandlers, pipe makers, coopers, pewterers) and an unusual collection of old sundials. The upper floor is devoted to agricultural crafts such as cheese making and basket making and to coal mining in Wallonia; in the basement there is a reproduction of a coal mine tunnel around 1900. Traditional puppet shows using old puppets are performed in the adjoining Maison Chamart. A branch of the museum is the Musée du Fer et du Charbon.