Belgium’s Domain & Royal Museum of Mariemont awarded European Heritage Label

The Domain & Royal Museum of Mariemont, near La Louvière, joins a prestigious list of nearly 80 heritage sites across the European Union.

It was one of 13 new sites to be awarded the European Heritage Label by the European Commission on Wednesday.

Mariemont is the official scientific and heritage institution of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. It incorporates a museum that hosts permanent and temporary cultural exhibitions, as well as a landscaped estate dating from the 16th century. Both the historical domain and the permanent displays of the museum are open to the public for free.

Mariemont also joins five other sites in Belgium with the heritage status: Mundaneum (Mons), Bois du Cazier (Marcinelle), Colonies of Benevolence (Antwerp province), MigratieMuseumMigration (Brussels) and the Royal Toone Theatre (Brussels).

Already recognised as part of Wallonia’s exceptional heritage, the site located in the former industrial belt of Hainaut was once a Renaissance princely estate, which became a bourgeois domain in the 19th century under the ownership of industrialist and philanthropist Raoul Warocqué. His extensive collection of art and antiquity works, along with the domain, was bequeathed to the state after his death in 1917.

He principally collected masterpieces of classical antiquity, including rare frescoes from Pompeii, Greek and Roman statues, as well as fine Chinese and Japanese works and local collections.

It was the curator Germaine Faider who established Mariemont as a fully-fledged museum and scientific institution in the 20th century. After the Warocque family’s chateau was almost entirely destroyed by fire in 1960, a new museum building was designed in a Brutalist style by notable Belgian architect Roger Bastin in the 1970s.

Mariemont is currently staging a major exhibition on its namesake Mary of Hungary as part of the Europalia Espana arts festival. The sister of Charles V and the former governor of the Low Countries (pictured) established a hunting lodge on the forested site in the 16th century, as well as a resplendent royal palace in nearby Binche.

The awarding of the heritage label aims to strengthen the site’s missions of conservation, study and promotion of its exceptional heritage, as well as support its accessibility for both local and European audiences.

Thanks to the designation, Mariemont plans to enhance the history of its domain and collections, notably through the development of new narrative and interpretive devices as well as the refurbishment of the museum’s permanent exhibition route.

A panel of independent experts chose the 13 sites from a shortlist of 21 candidates selected by member states. Each site symbolises a unique piece of Europe's diverse history and integration, embodying the core values at the heart of Europe.

Photos: Mariemont ©European Heritage Label; ©Musees royaux des beaux arts de belgique bruxelles, photo j. Geleyns; Paris, Les Arts décoratifs, photo Jean Tholance; Mary of Hungary exhibition view ©BE CULTURE