Since the 15th. century, Antwerp has been a focus on diamond trade. Even Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy commissioned to cut and polish the Florentine Diamond in Antwerp. It must be no surprise that nowadays Antwerp has its own Silver and Diamond museum named DIVA.
Already in the 1970’s there was a diamond museum in the Jezusstraat in Antwerp. In 1988 the museum moved to the Lange Herentalsstraat, which bordered the Diamond district. Then there were three floors and a didactic approach was made of the story of the diamonds.
In 2002 the museum moved to the Koningin Astridplein, a square next to the railway station of Antwerp and so near the diamond district too. There visitors could see treasure rooms on each floor. Then there were special exhibitions too.
However in 2012 the building on the Koningin Astridplein closed due to construction works on the Elisabeth Hall (the opera).
The DIVA museum has 6 rooms which show and tell its own story: The Wunderkammer, The Atelier, the International Trading Room, The Dining Room, The Vault and The Boudoir.
The rooms were small, modern and rather dark, so it was a bit claustrophobic and too busy to visit the museum.
Nowadays due to the Covid-19 measures you have to reserve a ticket and a visit in advance.
Once you have a time slot you can visit the museum with your bubble and with a face mask on.
I visited the Diva museum together with my husband in March 2021. I was never been there before and I had high expectations. However it let me a bit down. It was too commercial and there were too many visitors even in Covid time. I also didn’t catch the story of the museum. The best part of our tour was the temporary exhibition called Masterpieces.
I can imagine that this is a popular museum with families and children because there were lots of interactive computer screens to use.
The Diva museum is located in the heart of Antwerp, near the Grand Place and the Town Hall. They are open daily between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm, but closed on Wednesdays.
The Diva museum is easily reachable by foot, bike or public transport and car. You can park your car at the Groenplaats or the Grand Place (Grote Markt).
A normal ticket costs 12.00 € for an adult. Of course there are reductions available (for children, young adults, teachers etc…).
Interested to visit the museum, check their site on this link: https://divaantwerp.be/en/visit/plan-your-visit/
* * *
Kathleen Van Lierop (born in 1979) is married and lives in Belgium. She is an avid traveler and a real museum lover. She likes books / (royal) history, culture and tourism. She has two blogs: https://allaboutroyalfamilies.blogspot.com/ and My Crazy Life Full With Books