Gent City Museum is also known as STAM, short for Stadsmuseum Gent in its original language. Opened in 2010, the city museum is the ideal place to get to know Gent better and learn more about its history in chronological order.
The museum first laid its foundations in 1833. The museum has grown steadily and has thousands of objects including sculptures, busts, manuscripts, frescoes and other historical artifacts. The fact that the museum building is a former monastery adds to its charm.
The first chapter is designed to explore the city of Gent today. You can see every detail with a large map photo on the floor. In the center of the room is a model of the city of Gent. If you have been to other important places in Gent, you can easily distinguish what is where on the model. The city museum you are in is also painted red.
The various rooms of the monastery have also been preserved and transferred to the present day. One of the original rooms of the monastery has been preserved as it was, and even the clothes worn in the monastery are among the objects on display. In another room of the monastery, which has been turned into a museum, is the tomb of Hugh II, the 13th century commander of Gent.
In the museum, you can find everything about Gent in different aspects. For example, there is a topographic map of Gent in one of the rooms. Although Gent is a city without much elevation, we can see the higher parts by looking at this map. It is also possible to see 3D holographic images of famous buildings in Gent.
Another of the rooms houses a replica of The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb by the Van Eyck Brothers, the original of which is on display at St. Bavo’s Cathedral.
The Gent City Museum helps you find the information you want between specific dates. There is indeed a lot of data about the history of Gent, and each of them is presented to the visitor both in video and text.
However, it should be noted that some of the objects on display do not have English descriptions, only in their own language. At the end of your museum tour, you can see the major buildings of Gent made with white LEGO bricks. To pass the time, you can use these bricks to build your own building.
What are STAM entrance fee and visiting hours?
STAM entrance fee. If you have a CityCard Gent city card, you can enter this museum for free. Stadsmuseum is closed on Wednesdays
Where is STAM? How to get there?
Bijloke Site, where STAM is located, is not only home to STAM, but also hosts music, dance and theater companies. You can think of it as an arts and culture campus. It is possible to get here by tram. Take trams 1, 4, 21 and 22 and get off at the stop called Gent Veergrep, cross the Godshuizenlaan road and bridge, and you will see the museum on the right about 100 meters ahead.
