The Plantin-Moretus House in Antwerp is every book-lover’s dream. Once the workshop of the most successful printing press business in Europe and home of its owner’s family, the museum tells the history of Europe through the pages of a book – just not in the way you’d expect.

The main highlight of the House is the two oldest printing presses in the world. These ink-stained, worn out machines may not seem like much, but were the driving force behind one of the most important intellectual and technological developments in the Western world. Bookworms are sure to swoon at the endless rows of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lining the Great Library, which contain priceless scrolls dating back to the 8th and 9th centuries. Not a lover of the literary arts? A picture speaks a thousand words, and the house contains numerous drawings and paintings by the legendary Baroque artist Peter Paul Reubens.

Designed to be both educational and visitor-friendly, the museum is organised into four themes – language, science, humans and society, and religion – explaining the various ways in which the Plantin-Moretus business changed the course of European history and philosophy.