Anderlecht Beguinage

The Anderlecht Béguinage in Brussels is the former home of the Béguines, who were Catholic lay sisters and mostly widows of Crusaders.

The Beguinage consists of a collection of small houses, built between 1252 and the 17th century, grouped around a garden. It was the smallest beguinage in Belgium, where only eight Beguines lived.

The Beguinage is now open to the public, sharing a common administrative office with the Erasmus House. The Beguinage Museum was set up in 1930.

The Beguinage Museum consists of two houses (one 16th-century, the other 18th-century) which are built around a pleasant inner courtyard. From here there is a fine view of the nearby Church of St. Guidon, built in the 16th century.

The museum's collection includes objects of archaeological interest, religious art and a local history collection which documents a thousand years of Anderlecht history.