British Museum, London region

British Museum - details and images

British Museum is the oldest and one of the largest museums in the world. There are few places where you can admire the many treasures of all time under one roof. Normally, the British Museum is among the most visited tourist attractions in London. Tourists will be fascinated by the Egyptian mummies or be inspired by the superb exhibition of drawings and sketches that change several times a year.

To visit the British Museum, visitors should be plenty of time to book their holiday in London, because the museum houses a lot of treasure. Perhaps the best thing would be to consider several visits to see every exhibit at length.

In 1753 the government of the time, bought the collection of Sir Hans Sloane, a wealthy doctor who practice in Chelsea. The collection consists of over 80,000 items which include fossils, plants, coins, medals and drawings. This was the beginning of what today is probably the best collection of a museum in the world. A decree of the Parliament has appointed British Museum, the first public museum in the world. Immediately after this, an impressive selection of books whose bases had been made Harley family, was added to the collection (Cottonian Library).

In 1757 King George II donated by the Royal British Museum Library in 1823 for George III to give the museum the right to take possession of a copy of each book is published in Great Britain. This right and persist today.

Over time, due to acquisition of large quantities of antiques, artifacts and discoveries around the world, has become increasingly evident that obitinerea a much larger space to accommodate the growing collection of the museum, was essential. In 1823 Robert and Sydney Smith were made public plans to build a new building that would host the British Museum. This work was carried through in the next 30 years, and the result is one of the most impressive buildings in London. Designed in the Greek Renaissance style, this magnificent building is a tourist attraction in itself, aside from their houses treasures. By 1850, already included the place and the Great Court, which was built in the middle of the Round Reading Room. This is covered by one of the largest domes in the world.

Despite the extension, space again became a problem and a new place for the collection of Natural History had to be found. It was transferred to South Kensington in the 1880s, and today make up the Museum of Natural History. Another important change took place in the museum when it was decided that the British Library building to be moved to specially built for this purpose at St. Pancras. Moving this enormous began in 1970 and was not finished just barely in 1998.

Today, the British Museum hosts no fewer than six and a half million art objects and has 94 permanent and temporary exhibitions. An education department offers a wide range of cultural services for adults but also children. There are other specialized departments coins and medals, ancient Egypt and Sudan, Africa, Oceania and the Americas, Greek and Roman antiquities, Asian Prehistory and others.

The British Museum has two entrances. The main entrance is on Great Russell Street. Here is information and office, and from here you can get leaflets and information about the museum and its collections. The other entrance is located on the north in Montague Square.

Schedule:

The museum is open daily from 10:00 am - 5:30 pm.
Grand Court: Monday - Wednesday 9:00 am - 6:00 pm. Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 9:00 am to 11:00 pm.

The museum is closed on 24, 25 and 26 December and 1 January.

Price:

Entrance to the museum is free for all visitors. Might charge for temporary exhibitions, but this information can be obtained from the information office.

Underground stations: Holborn, Tottenham Court Road, Russell Square, Goodge St.
Bus: New Oxford Street - 7, 8, 19, 22b, 25, 38, 55, 98
Tottenham Court Road - 10, 24, 29, 73, 134
Southampton Row - 68, 91, 188

Information source