The Gruuthuse Museum occupies a large medieval mansion close to the Dijver Canal. In the fifteenth century, it was inhabited by the merchant who had the exclusive right to levy a tax on the Gruit, an imported mixture of herbs added to barley during the beer-brewing process. The mansion’s labyrinthine rooms, with their ancient chimneypieces and wooden beams, have survived intact and nowadays hold a priceless collection of fine and applied arts.

There are tapestries, wood carvings, furniture and even a medical section devoted to cures of everyday ailments such as haemorrhoids. The authentic kitchen and original 1472 chapel transport visitors back to medieval times.

Laid out over three floors, the collection is organized into types of object from glassware, porcelain and ceramics to medical instruments in a series of 22 numbered rooms. Visitors may view the rooms in sequence from 1-22 and get a good sense of the original uses and layout of the house in doing so.