Contact
Address
Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG, United Kingdom
GPS: 51.521891133554, -0.12373684278631
Founded or opened in 1753 in Bloomsbury, the British Museum in London is one of the oldest museums in the world where its pieces date back in history. On a national level, it is the most visited site in the United Kingdom with over 6 million visits annually to see the British Museum in Great Russell Street. Dedicated to history, art and human culture in all its forms, the British Museum has a vast collection of objects estimated at over 7 million objects or pieces in the museum. These items are unique in that they come from every continent and cover over 5,000 years of human history stretched all the way back to the origins of our recent civilisations. These include the parthenon sculptures, also known as the Elgin marbles, which are part of the parthenon collection, and the Aztec double-headed serpent from Mexico carved from a single piece of cedar and covered in a mosaic of turquoise oyster shell tiles. The transit of these parthenon items and other ancient Greek artefacts from the Acropolis to Britain was arranged by a British ambassador to the Ottoman empire known as Lord Elgin. The British Museum is one destination worth a visit soon with free unlimited entry allowing you to take your time in a place where visitors could happily spend an entire day exploring.
At the time of its creation, the British Museum was based on the incredible personal collection of Sir Hans Sloane (former royal physician, naturalist and great Irish collector). It was initially housed in the 17th century manor house of Montagu House (the former home of the 1st Duke of Montagu, a diplomat of the Kingdom of England). This building was demolished in the mid-19th century to make way for a larger building capable of housing the museum’s new acquisitions, some of which were gifted to the museum. Over the years, the British Museum’s collection has been supplemented by the addition of royal stocks and rare items from former British colonies and from conflict zones around the world. In the twentieth century, the museum was recognised by its peers as a universal reference. Moreover, a full day’s visit is not too long to fully appreciate all the treasures on display at the British Museum. Many of the pieces bear witness to the advanced techniques once used by the greatest civilisations. In the late 1990s, the central courtyard of the great court space was redesigned and now includes the great court restaurant. A magnificent glass and steel roof, designed by the British architect Norman Foster, was built over the court in 2000, modelled on the dome of the Reichstag Palace in Berlin.
Amongst the British Museum collection the must-see works are the famous Rosetta Stone used by Jean-François Champollion to decipher hieroglyphics and the Egyptian mummies and sarcophagi from ancient Egypt and ancient Egyptian civilization in an excellent state of preservation. Also of interest are the impressive winged bulls in the Assyrian collection, the colossal statues in the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, the majestic marble friezes and sculptures from the Parthenon in Athens, the sculpted columns in the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, and the legendary early 7th century funerary ship found at the archaeological site of Sutton Hoo (Suffolk, UK) with its splendid iron helmet. One of the best British Museum tips is that, while the collection can be overwhelming and you can easily spend a whole day exploring the history of the world, a museum map and the audio guide will help orient you when you pay a visit to the British museum. Entrance to the British Museum is free but it is recommended to book in advance to guarantee entry and get information about the special exhibitions, temporary exhibitions and other displays on exhibit you’ll have time to see when you enter through the main entrance on the ground floor and also see the gallery and famous objects on display in other parts of the museum.