Museum of Natural Sciences

Museum of Natural Sciences

Muséum des sciences naturelles (French) Museum voor Natuurwetenschappen (Dutch)
Entrance to the Museum of Natural Sciences
Interactive fullscreen map
Established	1846
Location	Rue Vautier / Vautierstraat 29, 1000 City of Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium
Coordinates	50°50′13″N 4°22′34″E / 50.83694°N 4.37611°E / 50.83694; 4.37611
Type	Natural history museum
Collection size	38,000,000 specimens[1]
Visitors	398,241 (2023)[1] 206,657 (2020)[1] 353,054 (2019)[1] 328,183 (2018)[1]
Director	Michel Van Camp[1]
Employees	390[1]
Public transit access	Brussels-Luxembourg 1 5 Maelbeek/Maalbeek and Schuman
Website	www.naturalsciences.be/en

The Museum of Natural Sciences (French: Muséum des Sciences naturelles, pronounced [myzeɔm de sjɑ̃s natyʁɛl]; Dutch: Museum voor Natuurwetenschappen, pronounced [myˈzeːjʏɱ voːr naːˈtyːrˌʋeːtə(n)sxɑpə(n)]) is a Brussels museum dedicated to natural history.^[2] It is a part of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (French: Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique (IRSNB); Dutch: Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen (KBIN)), itself part of the institutions of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO).

The Dinosaur Hall of the museum is the world's largest museum hall completely dedicated to dinosaurs. Its most important pieces are 30 fossilised Iguanodon skeletons, which were discovered in 1878 in Bernissart, Belgium. Another famous piece is the Ishango bone, which was discovered in 1960 by Jean de Heinzelin de Braucourt in the Belgian Congo. The museum also houses a research department and a public exhibit department.

The museum is located at 29, rue Vautier/Vautierstraat, in Leopold Park, close to the European institutions and the House of European History (HEH). This area is served by Brussels-Luxembourg railway station, as well as by the metro stations Maelbeek/Maalbeek and Schuman on lines 1 and 5.