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CATLAND, a paradise for cats, opens 15 minutes from Brussels

Inaugurated on 12 November 2026 in the presence of the Van Belle family, Asse’s living cat museum brings together 22 rooms, two escape games and a 6,000 m² garden where you walk among cats from shelters.

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A keeper crouching among cats in Catland’s indoor living area in Asse.
A keeper among Catland’s residents, all of them from shelters. © Catland📷 Photograph © Catland · photos officielles (catland.be) · photos de l’inauguration du 12 novembre 2026 transmises à notre rédaction

A giant wooden cat as tall as a house, blue eyes glowing in the dark and, all around, dozens of very real cats. CATLAND, “the living cat museum”, was inaugurated on Thursday 12 November 2026 in the presence of the Van Belle family. Since Friday 13 November, it has been welcoming visitors in Asse, about 15 minutes from Brussels. Museum, escape games and a large garden: everything is designed for total immersion in the world of cats. Allow about 3.5 hours for the full experience.

A childhood dream turned museum

Behind the project is Kevy Van Belle, from the family of entrepreneurs behind the Choco-Story museums and the Frietmuseum. According to L-Post, the family group Fascineum Experience Museums runs 17 museums in Europe and in Mexico. “When I was little, I wanted to buy an island with all the cats in the world,” he told L’Avenir. The island will have to wait: the museum opened after more than ten years of work.

Catland stands on the former estate of notary De Rijck, bought by the family a few years ago, reports Goeiedag. L-Post describes an orchard of almost 20 hectares, whose apples are used, among other things, for an artisanal juice served at the Catfétéria.

The purple “Living Cat Museum – CATLAND” welcome sign, decorated with cat silhouettes, on the evening of the inauguration

The giant wooden cat in the Catland garden, with glowing blue eyes and a staircase, on the evening of the inauguration

The evening of the inauguration, Thursday 12 November 2026. Photos sent to our newsroom.

22 rooms through the history of the cat

The visit begins with a museum trail tracing the history of the cat since Antiquity: its evolution, its exceptional senses, its behaviour and its relationship with humans across the world and through the ages. Catland lists 22 themed rooms, 40 interactive installations and an included audio guide in 8 languages: French, Dutch, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese. L’Avenir found “a feline version of the Sistine Chapel” and paintings that come to life.

Good news for people with allergies: before the garden, you watch the cats from different angles, behind glass, without any contact. The museum can therefore be visited without touching them.

A mother and her little daughter look at cat paintings in a room with painted walls at the Catland museum

Young visitors use the touchscreens about cat breeds, in front of the wall of species

Along the way, the sets change era and continent: ancient Egypt, classical columns, the Renaissance, Japan, a salon with crystal chandeliers… Other rooms are devoted to cat breeds and feline physiology, and interactive games await the most playful visitors. Here is what our photos show inside.

A tall statue of Bastet, the Egyptian cat goddess, in front of a wall of hieroglyphs, beside a silver cat statuette

A gilded Egyptian-style throne in front of a painted fresco of ancient Egyptian figures

A room with white classical-style columns and an ancient vase on display

The Renaissance room, whose painted ceiling shows a ginger cat’s paw reaching towards another cat, a nod to the Sistine Chapel

A giant maneki-neko, the Japanese lucky cat, between Japanese-style paper screens

A black lacquered cabinet decorated with flowers, open on an illuminated display between two cat figurines

A rustic stone-and-wood interior with chairs, a skull, mushrooms and a cauldron

A green-walled salon lit by crystal chandeliers, with a framed portrait, a round wrought-iron bench and old books in display cases

The “Breeds” room, its walls covered with cards on cat breeds, with a touchscreen table and stools

The “Physiology” room and its large screen showing the cat’s nervous system

A room with cat-patterned wallpaper, cat trees, screens and a tray of grass

A room whose illuminated walls are covered with hundreds of cat photos

A video game projected on a large screen, with four cats each running down their own coloured corridor

The purple “Cat Ball” pinball machine, decorated with cartoon cats

Inside the rooms of the Catland museum. Photos sent to our newsroom.

The world’s tallest natural cat tree, according to Catland

Then the pace changes. “No screens here. Just observation, calm and encounters,” Catland promises. In the indoor living area, everything is designed for the cats: climbing, hiding, withdrawing, playing or simply staying calm.

At its centre stands what Catland presents as the world’s tallest natural cat tree: 8.5 metres high and, according to Goeiedag, made from a single tree trunk.

Catland’s giant cat tree, with two Bengal cats on its wooden platforms and a keeper playing with them

A tabby cat watches visitors over a wooden beam, next to the branches of a cat tree

A cat-shaped wooden piece of furniture with shelves, in the cats’ living space with platforms along the walls

In the cats’ indoor living space. Photos sent to our newsroom.

A walk among the cats, across 6,000 m²

Outside, the cat garden covers 6,000 m². You stroll among the residents and their keepers, and you can even stroke them… if they want you to. Footbridges, streams, resting spots and a cat-shaped observation structure line the route: the seven-metre “Trojan cat” described by L’Avenir. Before going in, disinfecting your shoes and hands is mandatory.

The giant wooden cat in the Catland garden, with its staircase and nesting boxes, under a blue sky

Cats from shelters, for life

All of Catland’s residents come from partner shelters and stay for life. A team looks after their health and well-being every day: quarantine areas, introduction zones for newcomers, permanent veterinary follow-up and reserved areas where the cats can rest away from the public. According to Goeiedag, feline behaviour therapist Anneleen Bru supports the project.

Catland’s cats are not up for adoption. To give a cat a home, the museum recommends Help Animals, Sans Collier or GRIFF. Listed partners also include GAIA, Help Animals Belgium, Opvang Helga’s Poezenhuis and Versele.

Two escape games to travel through time

To extend the adventure, two escape games of about 60 minutes start from the Catimus, a mystical portal imagined by Catland to travel between eras:

  • The Tomb of Bastet: in ancient Egypt, restore the goddess’s sacred necklace and free a cat trapped between the world of the living and that of the dead.
  • The Curse of the Black Cat: in the Middle Ages, break the black magic that turned a cat accused of witchcraft to stone.

Teams of 2 to 6 players, in French, Dutch or English, from age 6 (under-16s must be accompanied by at least one adult). No particular physical effort is needed and you can leave at any time. The escape game is booked together with the museum visit.

Players in the Egyptian room of the escape game The Tomb of Bastet, in front of a statue of Bastet and walls of hieroglyphs

A break at the Catfétéria

Between two discoveries, the Catfétéria serves its speciality, the Kitty Crunch. A shop rounds off the visit.

Practical information

  • 📍 Address: Edingsesteenweg 208, 1730 Asse.
  • 🕙 Opening hours: every day from 10 am to 6 pm, last admission at 4 pm. Closed on 25 December and 1 January.
  • ⏱️ Duration: 2 to 3 hours for the museum and garden, about 3.5 hours for the full experience with an escape game.
  • 🎟️ Prices: €25 for ages 27 to 65, €23 for ages 12 to 26 and 65+, €15 for ages 3 to 11, €23 reduced-mobility rate, free for under-3s. Visit + escape game: €73 per person (minimum 2 people), with lower prices for larger groups.
  • 📅 Booking: compulsory online, by time slot. Gift cards available.
  • 🚆 Getting there: Asse and Ternat railway stations, “Asse De Morette” bus stop right next to the entrance.

Opening hours and prices checked on catland.be on 13 November 2026. Check slot availability before you set off.

🔗 Sources & verifiable links

— Le Scout BXL, for BXLpositive.news

#Asse#bien-être animal#Catland#chats#escape game#musée du chat#près de Bruxelles#refuges#sortie en famille#Van Belle
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