of the gardens function as recreational parks with flower beds, lawns, woodlands, ponds, gazebos and park benches. In addition, all monastery gardens feature a wide range of Roman Catholic devotional elements such as Lourdes grottoes, Biblical-themed grottoes, Stations of the Cross, Calvary groups, Sacred Heart statues (5!), and various Marian shrines and statues of saints, including several portrait busts of Arnold Janssen. Each garden has its own cemetery. A large section of the gardens of St. Michael's Monastery (the section across the road from the main monastery building, south of Parkstraat) is open to the public. The gardens and cemetery of the Sacred Heart Monastery can be visited only after obtaining permission. The Holy Ghost Monastery gardens are closed to the public. A major visitor attraction in Steyl is the botanical garden Jochumhof, named after the SVD biology teacher Father Peter Jochum. It was formerly used for teaching future SVD missionaries about tropical plants. The garden is now run by volunteers. Museums The Missiemuseum Steyl is the oldest museum in Venlo. From 1875 on, the SVD fathers travelled around the world and contributed to the collection. The arrangement of the collection within the museum has not been substantially changed since its inception in the early 20th century. The taxidermic collection includes local stuffed mammals, as well as animals from the polar regions and the South American jungles. A separate room is dedicated to painstakingly arranged collections of insects and arthropods. The ethnographic collection consists of artefacts from Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, China, Japan, and many other countries where SVD missionaries worked. Included are the clothes worn by two missionaries when they were killed by spear thrusts during the Boxer Rebellion (1899–1901) in China. Blood stains and holes remain visible on the clothes. The Limburgs Schutterijmuseum is also located in Steyl. This museum shows a collection of the clothes and accoutrements of Limburg's Schutterij organisations (see: militia). The museum building, the former Sint-Gregorklooster, was struck by fire in 2008. Part of the collection was saved, but damage to the building was significant. The foundation that supports the museum continues to exhibit the collection in a former church elsewhere in the village. Other museums include the Wereldpaviljoen ("World Pavilion"), aimed at young visitors to make them familiar with cultural diversity, and the so-called Forgiveness Museum, a pop-up museum that is based in the former premises of the Schutterijmuseum. References External links International