The British Museum, London

Address: Great Russell Street, London
Opening hours: Daily: 10:00 - 17:30
No admission fee

Established in 1753 by an act of Parliament and built to the design of Sir Robert Smirke, the British Museum is the most celebrated of all London museums and also, with about 14 acres of display area, ranks among the world's largest. It is located in a peaceful and elegant Bloomsbury region of London. Over 6 million people are attracted to the museum annually, with guests coming from all parts of the globe to experience this world-renowned facility that educates and captivates the imagination. Throughout the golden years of the British Empire, the collections considerably increased in size and now the number of specimens held in the museum totals nearly 7 million. Showcased in 94 galleries, from the tiniest to the most imposing, these artifacts span more than two million years of human history and culture. It goes without saying that one simply cannot see everything here in a single visit, so it is best to be selective. The British Museum features world-class collections of both ancient and modern antiquities from Egypt, Western Asia, Greece, the Roman Empire, as well as Prehistoric and Romano-British, Medieval, Renaissance, Modern and Oriental collections; Coins, Medals and Banknotes. Among the most important artifacts on display are the colossal Assyrian relief sculptures from Nineveh, Calah (now Nimrud), and from other locations. Particular strenghts of the marvellous Egyptian section include a caryatid from the Erechtheum; the 2200 year old large granitoid slab called the Rosetta Stone that helped to decipher the hieroglyphic script; plus the gigantic ancient sculptures and fascinating mummies. Within the collection of Greek artifacts are the Elgin Marbles, which the Earl of Elgin brought or, as held by some, "stole" from the Parthenon in Athens in 1806. Even if they are not the museum's most famed exhibit, they are undoubtedly its most controversy-laden. In addition to the collections of archaeology and ethnography, the museum has an internatioal reputation for its fine assemblage of prints and drawings, highlighted by Rembrandt's image of a woman sitting in a chair (the woman is thought to represent a queen, presumably Esther from the Old Testament), and for its special collection containing the original Sutton Hoo Ship Burial, ivories, innumerable clocks and watches. Some other not-to-miss items that should be mentioned are the Easter Island Statue, the Lewis Chessmen and Michelangelo cartoon. A memorable part of a visit would be a walk around the Great Court in the building's astonishing inner courtyard. In the center there is the majestic Round Reading Room, where luminaries like Mahatma Ghandi, George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Arthur Conan Doyle, Rudyard Kipling, T.S. Elliot, W.B. Yeats, Mark Twain, Virginia Woolf, V.I. Lenin and Karl Marx once busied themselves with books. The museum offers a variety of events and special exhibits all year long.