Museums in England - Museums in Great Britain. Travel What is the famous museum in the UK

Nowhere except London, there is such a huge number of attractions, museums, exhibitions, constantly attracting tourists. There are numerous tourist facilities and exhibitions of almost any orientation. They are constantly open to visitors, whose flow does not dry out over time.

The main historical and archaeological museum in Great Britain and one of the largest in the world is the British Museum in London.

It is constantly in the top lines of the ranking in terms of attendance among the museums of the world. The British Museum is located in Bloomsbury, the historic district of London.

All visitors british museum can familiarize themselves with the historical and cultural values ​​located here free of charge. For tourists, 94 galleries are open, with a length of about 4 kilometers.

Naturally, it is impossible to get acquainted with such a number of exhibits in one or two days. Among the museum staff there are Russian-speaking guides who will help Russian tourists better understand historical facts, as well as cats.

6 cats are officially on the staff of the British Museum : they are decorated with yellow bows, behave with dignity in the halls and protect museum valuables from the invasion of rodents.

History of the Museum

Like many other collections in England, the British Museum originated from a private collection. The famous English collector of antiquities, doctor and naturalist Hans Sloan, during his lifetime, made a will, according to which, for a nominal fee, his entire collection of more than 70 thousand exhibits was transferred to King George II.

Thanks to this, the English national fund was significantly replenished. It happened in June 1753. At the same time, the antiquary James Cotton donated his library to the state, and Earl Robert Harley donated a unique collection of ancient manuscripts. The creation of a historical museum was approved by a special act of the British Parliament.

In 1759, the museum was opened to visitors in the Montagu House mansion. At first, only selected people could become visitors to the museum. For everyone, the museum was opened only in 1847, when the modern building of the museum was built.

The collection of the British Museum was constantly replenished. At the end of the 18th century, the museum acquired Greville's collection of minerals, W. Hamilton's antique vases, Townley marbles, and bought masterpieces from the Parthenon from Lord Elgin.

Some of the exhibits in the museum got almost criminally: until now, Greece and Egypt are demanding the return of some valuable relics (for example, the Rosetta Stone - a plate with text in ancient Egyptian), exported illegally from these countries.

In the 19th century, the British Museum in London began to grow and develop rapidly. At this time, it became necessary to divide the museum into departments, some of which were moved to another place. A numismatic department appeared, where medals and coins from different countries, belonging to different eras (including ancient Greek, Persian, ancient Roman) are collected.

The geological, mineralogical, botanical and zoological departments were separated into a separate Natural History Museum, which was moved to South Kensington in 1845. From 1823 to 1847, the Montagu House was demolished, and in its place a modern building in the classicist style, created by the architect R. Smork, appeared.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the number of exhibits from the Middle East increased due to archaeological excavations in Mesopotamia. Since 1926, the museum has published its own quarterly magazine, which covers the events taking place in the museum.

At the end of the 20th century, when they were preparing for the 250th anniversary of the founding of the museum, increased exhibition halls. Under the leadership of Norman Foster, the space was replanned: new premises appeared, galleries were updated, additional territory was glazed.

Museum expositions

At first, the museum was conceived only as a collection of antiquities from Greece and Rome, but gradually exhibits of various eras from other places appeared, for which new departments were organized:

• The Greco-Roman collection in the British Museum is located in 12 rooms. It includes luxury items dating back to the time of the Roman emperors, Lycian sculptures, sculptures from the temple of Apollo in Phigalia, the remains of the temple of Diana in Ephesus, etc.

• The Oriental section of the museum presents collections of sculptures, paintings, ceramics and engravings from South and Southeast Asia. There are Indian bronze statues Buddhas, monuments of hieroglyphic writing dating back to the 2nd millennium BC, ritual vessels of Ancient China and other ancient oriental treasures.

• In the department of the Middle Ages and Modern Times, you can see works of arts and crafts from the time of early Christianity to the 19th century. There are many cult objects, dishes and jewelry made of silver, knightly armor and medieval weapons, collections of ceramic and glass products of the 18th-19th centuries, church utensils and the world's largest collection of watches.

• The collection of drawings and engravings of the British Museum in terms of artistic value and size is on a par with the famous Louvre. This section contains paintings by Botticelli , Van Dyck, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Gainsborough, Durer, Van Gogh, Raphael and many others.

• The number of medals and coins in the numismatics department exceeds 200 thousand copies. Here are coins from the 7th century BC to modern examples, as well as coins made of precious metals. The department also contains almost all the medals dedicated to important historical events of the country, including the medals of the London 2012 Olympics.

• In the department of ethnography, one can get acquainted with objects of everyday life and culture of the peoples of Australia, Africa, Asia and Oceania, America, starting from the discovery of these lands by Columbus, Cook and other famous navigators.

• The British Museum is also the largest library in the UK, with more than 7 million volumes of various publications, about 200 thousand manuscripts in European languages, more than half a million geographical maps and almost a million copies of music. About 20 thousand technical and scientific journals are collected here. The British Museum Library has 6 reading rooms for 670 visitors.

The museum constantly conducts themed tours, and on Sundays there is a children's club "Young Friend of the British Museum", for members of which access to additional interesting expositions is open. Popular here, as well as all over the world, are held 4 times a year "Nights at the Museum". Each night is held with a specific theme, such as "Egyptian Night" or "Japanese Night".

Information for tourists

The museum is open daily, opening hours: 10-00 - 17-30. From Thursday to Friday, some departments work longer, until 20-30.

Now the museum's fund is replenished mainly through donations from patrons or collectors. Some exhibits are purchased with the money of Parliament. Entrance to the British Museum is free, but it is considered good form to leave a small donation, for which special boxes are installed in the museum.

The British Museum is huge in terms of area and number of exhibits, so you should not try to get around it in one or two days. It is better to choose one or two expositions that are most interesting for you and devote full time to them. Otherwise, visiting the museum will leave not positive emotions and new knowledge, but fatigue and a sore head.

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London

National Gallery

2404 The National Gallery, London WC2N 5DN, UK

National Portrait Gallery

27 St. Martin's Place, London WC2H 0HE, UK

London City Hall Museum (Guildhall Art Gallery)

37 Guildhall Yard, London EC2V 5AE, UK

Gallery of Rafael Valls (Rafael Valls Gallery)

7 6A Ryder Street, London SW1Y 6QB, UK

Victoria and Albert Museum

54 Victoria and Albert Museum, Knightsbridge, London SW7 2RL, UK

Roy Miles Fine Paintings Collection

29 London, UK

Gallery Malcolm Innes (Malcolm Innes Gallery)

1 7 Bury Street, London, SW1Y 6AL, UK

Museum of London History (Museum of London)

4

Royal Holloway, University of London (Royal Holloway Collection, University of London)

4 Senate House, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU, UK

Palace of Westminster, British Parliament building (Westminster Houses of Parliament)

7 Palace of Westminster, London SW1A 2PW, UK

Gallery Maas (The Maas Gallery)

0 The Maas Gallery Ltd, 15A Clifford Street, Mayfair, London W1S 4JZ, UK

Wallace Collection

29 Hertford House, The Wallace Collection, Manchester Square, Marylebone, London W1U 3BN, UK

Leighton House Museum, The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

3 Leighton House Museum, 12 Holland Park Road, Kensington, London W14 8LZ, UK

Dulwich Picture Gallery

30 Dulwich Picture Gallery (Stop VR), London SE21, UK

The Royal Collection of the United Kingdom (The Royal Collection of the United Kingdom)

36 Buckingham Palace Road London SW1A 1AA, United Kingdom

25 Gallery 11, The Courtauld Institute of Art, London WC2R, UK

Tate Gallery

153 Tate Modern Staff Entrance, Lambeth, London SE1 9, UK

6 10 Spring Gardens St. James's, London SW1A 2BN, UK

Royal College of Art (Royal College of Art)

1

Royal Academy of Arts (The Royal Academy of Arts)

3 Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, Kensington, London SW7 2EU, UK

Society of Fine Arts (The Fine Art Society)

11 Bond Street lights switch on, 148 New Bond Street, London W1S 2JT, UK

Mallett Gallery

4 37 Dover Street, London W1S 4NJ, UK

Kenwood House

18 Kenwood House, Hampstead Lane, Hampstead, London NW3 7JR, UK

Cadogan Contemporary Art Gallery in Kensington (Cadogan Contemporary, Art Gallery in Kensington)

1 Kensington, London, UK

Geoffrey Museum

3 Geffrye Museum, 136 Kingsland Road, London E2 8EA, UK

National Maritime Museum (National Maritime Museum)

3 National Maritime Museum, London SE10 9NF, UK

British Library

6 The British Library, 96 Euston Road, Kings Cross, London NW1 2DB, UK

National Army Museum (National Army Museum)

14 National Army Museum, Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London SW3 4HT, UK

Science Museum

1 Science Museum, Exhibition Road, Kensington, London SW7 2DD, UK

Museum of the Order of Saint John

1 St John's Gate, Museum of the Order of Saint John, Saint John Street, London EC1M 4DA, UK

British Museum (British Museum)

11 Museum of London, 150 London Wall, London EC2Y 5HN, UK

City of London Corporation

9 City of London Corporation, Guildhall Buildings, London EC2P 2EJ, UK

Glasgow

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

20 Argyle Street, Glasgow G3 8AG, UK

Peoples Palace

1 The People's Palace & Winter Garden, Glasgow Green, Glasgow, Glasgow City G40 1AT, UK

Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery

1 University of Glasgow, University Avenue, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK

Edinburgh

Museums and Galleries (Museums and Galleries)

11

The Drambuie Collection

11 Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh, UK

National Gallery of Scotland (National Galleries of Scotland)

24 National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Midlothian EH4 3BL, UK

Liverpool

Walker Art Gallery, National Museums Liverpool

10 Liverpool, Merseyside, UK

Lady Lever Art Gallery, Liverpool museums

10 Liverpool, Merseyside, UK

National Museums

7 National Museums Liverpool, 127 Dale St, Liverpool, Merseyside L2 2JH, UK

baht

Victoria Art Gallery

22 Bath, Bath, Bath and North East Somerset, UK

Holburne Museum of Art

6 The Holburne Museum, Great Pulteney Street, Bath, Bath, Bath and North East Somerset BA2 4DB, UK

Oxford

Ashmolean Museum

31 Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, Beaumont Street, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 2PH, UK

Balliol College (Balliol College, University of Oxford)

2 Balliol College, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 3BJ, UK

Manchester

Manchester Art Gallery

35 Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, Manchester M1, UK

Whitworth Art Gallery, The University of Manchester

17 Whitworth Art Gallery, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, Manchester M15 6ER, UK

Birmingham

Barber Institute of Fine Arts

8 Birmingham, West Midlands, UK

Museum and Art Gallery (Museums and Art Gallery)

59 Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham, West Midlands B3 3DH, UK

Cardiff

National Gallery of Wales (National Museum of Wales)

19 National Museum Cardiff, Cathays Park, Cardiff, Cardiff CF10 3NP, UK

1 County Hall, Cardiff Council, Cardiff, Cardiff CF10 4UW, UK

Leicestershire

Belvoir Castle

6 Belvoir Castle, Grantham, Leicestershire NG32 1PE, UK

Portsmouth

Royal Naval Museum (Royal Naval Museum)

2 HM Naval Base (PP66), Royal Naval Museum, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO1 3NH, UK

Lincoln

Usher Gallery

1 Danes Terrace, Lincoln LN2 1LP, UK

Sudbury

Sudbury Hall and the National Trust Museum of Childhood

1 Sudbury Hall, Main Road, Sudbury, Ashbourne, Derbyshire DE6 5HT, UK

Coventry

Herbert Art Gallery

1 Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Jordan Well, Coventry, Coventry, West Midlands CV1 5QP, UK

Southport

Atkinson Art Gallery

5 Lord Street, Southport PR8 1DB, Merseyside, UK

Maidstone

Museum and Art Gallery (Maidstone Museum and Art Gallery)

3 Maidstone Museum, Saint Faith's Street, Maidstone, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1LH, UK

Cheltenham

Art Gallery and Museum (Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum)

2

Stoke-on-Trent

Museum of Ceramics and Art Gallery (The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery)

3 The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Bethesda Street, Stoke-on-Trent, Stoke-on-Trent ST1 3DW, UK

Southampton

City Gallery (Southampton City Art Gallery)

19 Civic Center Road, Southampton SO14 7LP, UK

Truro

Royal Cornwall Museum

6 Royal Cornwall Museum, River Street, Truro, Cornwall TR1 2SJ, UK

Leicester

New Walk Museum & Art Gallery (New Walk Museum & Art Gallery)

9 New Walk Museum & Art Gallery, 53 New Walk, Leicester, Leicester LE1 7EA, UK

Rigate

Bourne Gallery

1 31-33 Lesbourne Road Reigate, Surrey RH2 7JS United Kingdom

Belfast

Ulster Museum

1 Ulster Museum, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, County Antrim BT9 5AB, UK

Ipswich

City Museum (Museum)

2 Ipswich Museum, High Street, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 3QH, UK

Hackney, London

Chalmers Bikvest (Chalmers Bequest)

1 Hackney Museum, Ground Floor Technology And Learning Centre, 1 Reading Lane, London E8 1GQ

Cork

Crawford Municipal Art Gallery

1 Emmett Place, Cork, Ireland

Kendal

Abbot Hall Art Gallery

2 Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kirkland, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 5AL, UK

Chiswick

City Hall (Town Hall)

1 Chiswick Town Hall, Chiswick, London W4 4JN, UK

Warwickshire

Compton Verney

6 Compton Verney, Warwick, Warwickshire CV35, UK

Stirling

Smith Art Gallery and Museum

1 Dumbarton Road, Stirling FK8 2RQ, UK

Warrington

2 Warrington Museum & Art Gallery, Bold Street, Warrington, Warrington, Warrington WA1 1DR, UK

High Wycombe

City Museum (Wycombe Museum)

1 Wycombe Museum, Priory Ave, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire HP13 6PX, UK

Torquay

Abbey Torre, art gallery (Torre Abbey)

2 Torre Abbey, The King's Drive, Torquay, Torbay TQ2 5JE, UK

Norwich

Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery

2 Castle Meadow, Norwich NR1 3JU, UK

Stockton-on-Tees

Preston Hall Museum

1 Preston Hall Museum, Yarm Rd, Stockton-on-Tees TS18 3RH, UK

Compton

Watts Gallery - Artists' Village

1 Down Ln, Compton, Guildford GU3 1DQ,

Brecon

Brecknock Museum and Art Gallery

1 Captains Walk, Brecon, Powys LD3 7DS, UK

Keswick

Museum and Art Gallery (Museum and Art Gallery)

1 Station Rd, Keswick, Cumbria CA12 4NF, UK

Rochdale

1 The Esplanade, Rochdale OL16 1AQ, UK

Royal Leamington Spa

Art Gallery

3 Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, UK

Walsall

New Art Gallery (The New Art Gallery)

1 Gallery Square, Walsall, West Midlands WS2 8LG, UK

Gloucester

Art Gallery

1 Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum, Clarence Street, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL50 3JT, UK

South Shields

Museum and Art Gallery (South Shields Museum & Art Gallery)

2 South Shields Museum & Art Gallery, Ocean Road, South Shields, Tyne and Wear NE33 2JA, UK

Northampton

Art Gallery (Museums & Art Gallery)

3 Northampton Museum and Art Gallery, 4-6 Guildhall Road, Northampton, Northampton NN1 1DP, UK

Wakefield

The Hepworth Art Gallery

1 Hepworth Street, Castleford, West Yorkshire WF10 2RU, UK

Birkenhead

Williamson Art Gallery & Museum

3 Birkenhead, Merseyside, UK

Worcester

City Art Gallery

2 Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum, Foregate Street, Worcester, Worcester WR1 1DT, UK

Croydon

Croydon Museum, Clocktower (Museum of Croydon, Clocktower)

2 Central Library, Croydon Clocktower, Museum of Croydon, Katharine Street, Croydon, Greater London CR9 1ET, UK

Safron Walden

The Fry Art Gallery

16 Saffron Walden, Saffron Walden, Essex, UK

Newcastle

Laing Art Gallery

47 New Bridge St, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8AG, UK

Cambridge

Fitzwilliam Museum

34 The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire CB2, UK

Eastbourne

Towner Art Gallery

3 Eastbourne, East Sussex, UK

aberdeen

Art galleries and museums (Art Gallery & Museums)

4 Aberdeen, Aberdeen City, UK

Chichester

Gallery Pallant (Pallant House Gallery)

1 Chichester, Chichester, West Sussex, UK

Bedford

Higgins Art Gallery & Museum - Bedford Borough Council

7 Castle Lane Bedford MK40 3XD, UK

Bristol

Museum and Art Gallery (Museum & Art Gallery)

13 Museum & Art Gallery, 4 Chapel Street, Thornbury, Bristol, South Gloucestershire BS35 2BJ, UK

Exeter

Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery

7 Exeter, Exeter, Devon, UK

nottingham

City Museums and Galleries, Nottingham Castle (Nottingham City Museums and Galleries, Nottingham Castle)

5 Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

Sheffield

Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust, Museums Sheffield Foundation

17 Sheffield, Sheffield, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S1, UK

Kettering

Alfred East Art Gallery

9 Kettering, Kettering, Northamptonshire, UK

Bradford

Art galleries and museums (Bradford Museums and Galleries)

16 Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK

Leeds

City Museum (Leeds Museums and Galleries, Leeds City Council)

46 Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK

oldham

Gallery Oldham (Gallery Oldham)

19 New Image Public Relations L, 16-18 Shaw Road, Oldham, Oldham OL1 3LQ, UK

Braemar

McEwan Gallery

1 Braemar, Ballater, Aberdeenshire AB35, UK

Burnley

Towneley Hall Art Gallery and Museum

21 Towneley Park, Burnley BB11 3RQ, UK

Preston

Harris Museum, Art Gallery & Preston Free Public Library

24 Preston, Preston, Lancashire, UK

Lancashire

Gallery Rockdale (Rochdale Art Gallery)

21 The Esplanade, Rochdale Lancashire OL16 1AQ, UK

Bournemouth

Russell-Cotes Art Gallery

33 The Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum, Russell Cotes Road, Bournemouth BH1 3AA, UK

Bolton

Museum, Art Gallery and Aquarium (Museum, Art Gallery & Aquarium)

3 Le Mans Crescent, Bolton, Lancashire BL1 1SE, UK

Barnard Castle

Museum Bowes (The Bowes Museum)

6 The Bowes Museum, Newgate, Barnard Castle, County Durham DL12 8NP, UK

York

Art Gallery (York Art Gallery)

97 Exhibition Square Tour Bus (o/s Art Gallery), York, York, York YO1, UK

Outon

Outon Tower (Hoghton Tower)

2 Hoghton Tower Wood, Lancashire, UK

Carlisle

Tully House Museum and Art Gallery (Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery)

11 Castle Street, Carlisle, Cumbria CA3 8TP, UK

Kirkcaldy

Art Gallery (Museum and Art Gallery)

1 War Memorial Gardens, Abbotshall Road, Kirkcaldy, Fife KY1 1YG, UK

Plymouth

Art Gallery

5 Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery, Drake Circus, Plymouth, Plymouth PL4 8AJ, UK

Accrington

Haworth Art Gallery

6 Haworth Art Gallery, Hollins Lane, Accrington, Lancashire BB5 2JS, UK

Storms

Bury Art Museum

4 Moss Street, Bury, Lancashire BL9 0DR, UK

Brighton

Royal Pavilion, Museums & Libraries (Royal Pavilion, Museums & Libraries)

16 Royal Pavilion Gardens, Brighton, The City of Brighton and Hove, UK

Wolverhampton

City Gallery (Wolverhampton Art Gallery)

31 Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Lichfield Street, Wolverhampton, West Midlands WV1 1DU, UK

Hull

Ferens Art Gallery, Hull Museums

14 Little Queen Street, Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire HU1 3RA, UK

21 Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, UK

Blackburn

Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery

7 Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery, Blackburn, Lancashire BB1 ​​7AJ, UK

Sunderland

Museum and Winter Gardens (Museum & Winter Gardens)

6 Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens, Borough Road, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear SR1 1PP, UK

Gateshead

Shipley Art Gallery, Tyne & Wear Museums

9 Prince Consort Rd, Gateshead NE8 4JB, UK

Falmouth

Art Gallery

2 Municipal Buildings, The Moor, Falmouth TR11 2RT, UK

Museums in England worth visiting with children

“WE WANT to save children from boredom in museums.” With these words, Madeleine Mainstone, Head of Education at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London's Kensington Borough, expressed the goal that many museums and galleries have in trying to attract more children to their premises.

"Victoria and Albert" is the richest treasury of fine arts, but it is the magnificence and variety of the museum's exhibits that can quickly satiate and confuse a young visitor who first came to the museum. “If you prepare a child for what he sees and explain why it needs to be seen,” says Madeleine Mainstone, “you can instill in him the skills of self-education.” And this process can begin as early as four years of age, if the right atmosphere is created for the development of curiosity. To this end, the museum organizes twice a year, during the Christmas and Easter holidays, special children's clubs - one for children under 10 and the other for older children. It is a pleasure to watch how the kids enthusiastically master the basics of art history, getting acquainted with the best examples of pottery - Persian plates, Florentine jugs, Chinese bowls.

"Does this pattern fit the shape of the jug well?" “What is that painted around the edge of the plate?” “Is it good or bad, in your opinion, that a ship is painted at the bottom of this bowl?” Such questions make children think about elementary aesthetic problems, and after the discussion, each child chooses an object and makes sketches from it.

Such vacation circles are another step forward in the development of the educational program conducted by the museum. They complement the Shabbat activities with children that began about 11 years ago. Two school teachers work with children (ages seven to eleven) showing them how to observe and evaluate objects, stimulating their creativity. Additional lessons can take many forms: discussion with questions and answers, amateur activities, drawing, painting, paper cutting, games with sorting objects or - for toddlers - the game "who will find the object first."

A special room has all the necessary materials - colored pencils, scissors, colored paper, glue, etc. Children are even allowed to pick up and feel some of the museum exhibits. Madeleine Mainstone says: "We aim to teach children the tactile perception of form and texture ... This demonstrates to them that artists and craftsmen use the same materials that they themselves work with in school."

The famous Whitechapel Art Gallery in London's East End invites teenagers aged 12-18 on Saturdays and during holidays to the studio located in the "Upper Gallery". Working as much and as they want, young artists discover new ways to realize their abilities, master new materials and artistic techniques. “We try to minimize helping children with their work and only when they ask for it themselves, we give them advice,” says Eileen Graham, a former art teacher and now head of the Upper Gallery.

England requires children to have a desire to develop their talent and a willingness to set themselves a creative challenge and try to fulfill it. Judging by the constantly changing exhibition of drawings, paintings, collages, engravings on linoleum, sculptures, pottery, etc., the organizers' expectations are justified.

In the same East End is the Jeffrey Museum, which first began to spread education during leisure hours 25 years ago. The museum is housed in an old ensemble of interconnected buildings (once they were a shelter for the poor) and has a suite of rooms decorated in the style of different eras - from the 16th century to the present day.

Daily during school holidays The museum is filled with children. Boys and girls wander the halls with pencils and notebooks in their hands, learning about life in past centuries, about how people dressed, what kind of furniture they had, what tools they used; visually get acquainted with the situation of the life of famous people.

Each student at the entrance receives a sheet with a task drawn up taking into account the age and main interests of the children. So, for example, the task may be to finish the essay or to complete the picture, and the child must find what exactly is missing in the essay or picture. Or he is invited to write down different types of kitchen utensils that have been used for several centuries. Or he must answer a crossword puzzle that tests knowledge of history. Finally, for five-year-olds, it may be as little as Blank sheet sketch paper. The teachers working at the museum come to the aid of little researchers; there are boards with the information they need, as well as a reading room.

Younger children (under 11) visit the museum in the morning, and older children in the afternoon. In addition to learning about history, they can try their hand at silk screen printing under expert guidance. One teacher was wearing a nice blue-green tie: “Stephen made it yesterday; he is 12 years old." The museum has an atelier and a workshop where children can engage in drawing and painting, pottery, modeling, weaving, doll making, music, basket weaving. They dress up in historical costumes or make them themselves.

In the south-east suburbs of London, there is another well-known museum that provides special opportunities for children. It is called the Horniman Museum after its founder and is divided into three departments - ethnographic, history of musical instruments and natural history. On Saturdays and during school holidays, children are engaged in circles covering these three areas of science, try their hand at various arts and crafts. They are allowed to pick up and inspect some of the exhibits. Recently, a special laboratory was created at the museum, equipped with sound recording and television facilities, which are also at the service of schoolchildren.

Even museums that do not have regular programs designed for children do not leave them unattended. The famous Kensington Science and Technology Museum hosts a special series of Christmas lectures for them. The museum has a "children's gallery" where students can turn on and off working models of machines and devices that illustrate various scientific principles.

All of these activities are, of course, completely free of charge, in addition to the ubiquitous opportunities for group school trips. They are certainly very useful for any young researcher who goes on an intellectual path in search of new knowledge.

The history of the creation of the museum

The museum was founded at the behest of the physician and naturalist Sir Hans Sloan(1660–1753). During his life, he collected an extensive collection (more than 71 thousand items) and, not wanting it to be divided after his death, he bequeathed it to King George II.

June 7, 1753 George II signed an Act of Parliament establishing the British Museum. An act of founding added the Cotton Library and the Harley Library to the Sloan collection. In 1757, the Royal Library was added to them, and in addition the right to receive a copy of any book published in Britain. These first four collections of the museum contained veritable treasures of British literature, including the only surviving copy of the medieval epic Beowulf.

The British Museum was a harbinger of a new type of museum for a number of reasons: it was not owned by the crown or the church, admission was free, and it tried to capture the diversity of human culture in its collections.

Montague House

The museum was originally located in Montague House, a mansion of the 17th century, bought out as a museum. Interestingly, the museum's board of trustees rejected the option of placing the collections in Buckingham House, today called Buckingham Palace, due to high cost and inconvenient location.

The opening of the museum to the public took place on January 15, 1759. From the very first years of the museum's existence, its collections were constantly replenished through gifts, donations and the purchase of private collections. So, the wealth of the museum in the 1760-1770s replenished the collection of treatises from the times civil war(1640s), plays from the 16th–17th centuries, and a collection of Greek vases. Since 1778, the museum has exhibited a variety of objects collected by Captain Cook in his world travel. In 1784, W. Hamilton, the British ambassador in Naples, sold his collection of Greek and Roman antiquities to the museum. At the beginning of the 19th century, the museum actively expanded its collections of ancient Egyptian and ancient art. So, in 1802, the famous Rosetta Stone was presented to the public, thanks to which it was possible to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics, and in 1818, by purchasing a bust of Pharaoh Ramses II, the foundation was laid for the collection of monumental sculpture of Ancient Egypt. In 1816, the museum bought from Thomas Bruce (British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in 1799-1803) a large collection of antique marble sculptures from the Athenian Parthenon. In 1825, collections of Assyrian and Babylonian art also appeared in the museum.

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The collections of the British Museum grew so rapidly that by the end of the 18th century Montagu House had become too small to store them, so in 1823 work began on the construction of a larger building in place of the old one. It was supposed that the new building would also contain an art gallery, but after the opening in 1824 in London, this was no longer necessary, and the empty premises were given over to natural history collections.

Since 1840, the museum has been organizing or financing archaeological expeditions in different parts of the world: on the island of Xanthos, in Lycia, Halicarnassus, on the ruins of the ancient cities of Nimrod and Nineveh. Finds made by expeditions replenish the museum's funds, sometimes founding entire areas of scientific research. Thus, the discovery of the huge cuneiform library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal made the British Museum one of the world centers of Assyrology.

From the middle of the 19th century, the museum began to expand with objects of art from medieval Britain and Europe and with ethnographic materials from around the world. The museum funds are replenished very quickly, and in 1887, due to the constant shortage of premises, the natural history collections were moved to the Museum of Natural History. But this did not solve the problem, so in 1895 the museum's board of trustees bought 69 buildings around it in order to expand the exposure. Work began in 1906.

In 1918, due to the threat of bombing, some of the items from the museum were evacuated to several safe places. When these items were returned to the museum, it turned out that some of them had deteriorated. For their restoration, a temporary restoration laboratory was created, which has been working on a permanent basis since 1931. In 1923, the number of museum visitors reached one million for the first time.

In 1939, due to the threat of war, the most valuable collections of the museum were again evacuated, and, as it turned out, very timely, since in 1940, during one of the Luftwaffe raids, one of the museum's galleries (Duvin Gallery) was seriously damaged.

In 1953 the museum celebrated its bicentenary. In subsequent years, its popularity among visitors did not decrease: in 1972, for example, about 1.7 million people visited the exhibition "Treasures of Tutankhamun". In the same 1972, by a decision of Parliament, it was decided to create a separate structure on the basis of the museum's book collections - the British Library. However, books began to be taken out of the museum only in 1997. Having freed up some space, it became possible to convert the square courtyard in the center of the library into a covered gallery, the largest in Europe - opened in 2000.

Today, the museum, although it has lost its library and collections of natural sciences, is still one of the largest museums in the world - its total area is 92 thousand m², more than 13 million items are stored in the funds. The museum also has the world's largest online database of its exhibits, with more than 2 million entries, 650,000 of which are illustrated. About 4 thousand exhibits from this database are accompanied by detailed descriptions. The museum also provides free access to several research catalogs and online journals.

Exhibitions of the British Museum

Items from the collections of the British Museum are housed in 100 galleries. In most of them, the exhibits are selected according to the territorial and chronological principle, but there are also thematic exhibitions, as well as a collection donated to the museum by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, the exhibits of which are exhibited in a separate gallery according to the will of the donor. The museum also regularly hosts guest exhibitions, the viewing of which is paid, in contrast to the permanent exhibitions of the museum. All museum funds are organized into several departments.

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The museum houses the largest and most comprehensive collection of Egyptian antiquities since the collection. Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Covering the time period from the X millennium BC. e. until the 12th century A.D. e. and all aspects of the life of the Egyptian civilization, the collection of the British Museum is the most important world center of Egyptology.

The beginning of the Egyptian department of the museum was laid even at its foundation - in the Sloan collection there were 160 objects from Egypt. After the defeat of Napoleon in Egypt (1801), the valuables collected by the French during their Egyptian campaign (including the famous Rosetta Stone) were captured by the British army and soon replenished the museum's funds. Before late XIX century, the collection of the department was replenished mainly due to purchases, but after the start of the work of the Egyptian Exploration Fund, objects found during excavations flowed into the funds of the department. In 1924, they already consisted of 57 thousand exhibits. During almost the entire 20th century, until legislation was passed in Egypt prohibiting the export of archaeological finds, the collection expanded. Today it contains about 110 thousand items.

Seven permanent Egyptian galleries, including the largest gallery No. 4, can accommodate only 4% of the collection for display. On the galleries of the second floor, a collection of 140 mummies and coffins is exhibited, the largest in the world after Cairo. This is one of the most popular expositions of the museum. The most valuable items in the collection include:

Amarna Archive (or Amarna Correspondence) - 95 of 382 clay tablets containing cuneiform diplomatic correspondence between the pharaohs and their representatives in Palestine and Syria (about 1350 BC). An invaluable source on the history of the Middle East.

Rosetta Stone (196 BC) - a stele with the text of the decree of King Ptolemy V. The enormous historical value of the stone lies in the fact that the text of the decree is carved in three versions: ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, demotic writing (Egyptian cursive) and in ancient Greek . This provided the key to deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.

“Palette with a battle” (other names are “Palette with vultures”, “Palette with giraffes”, “Palette with lions”) - stone plates (end of the 4th millennium BC) containing the most ancient famous images military operations, as well as pictograms, which are considered the forerunners of hieroglyphs.

Also of interest are:

• bust of Pharaoh Ramses II (circa 1250 BC);
• the royal list from the Temple of Ramses II (circa 1250 BC);
• a granite statue of Senusret III (circa 1850 BC);
• Mummy of Cleopatra from Thebes (100 AD);
• obelisk of Pharaoh Nectanebo II (360-343 BC);
• Guyer-Anderson's cat (7th-4th centuries BC) - a bronze sculpture of the goddess Bastet in the form of a cat. The exhibit is named after the donor.
• sculptural images of the pharaoh Amenhotep III - a huge limestone bust, a statue and a separate head made of red granite (c. 1350 BC);

The British Museum houses one of the world's largest collections of Greek and Roman antiquities (more than 100,000 items), covering the period from the beginning of the Bronze Age in Greece (about 3200 BC) to the reign of the Roman Emperor Constantine I (early 4th century AD). e.).

The collection of ancient Greek artifacts also covers the Cycladic, Minoan and Mycenaean cultures. The most valuable exhibits are sculptures from the Parthenon temple in Athens and details of two wonders of the world - the Mausoleum in Halicarnassus and the Temple of Artemis of Ephesus. The department is home to one of the most important collections of Italic and Etruscan art. Other most valuable exhibits of the department include:

• objects from the Athenian Acropolis (sculptures and friezes from the Parthenon temple, one of the surviving caryatids (female figures) and a column from the Erechtheion temple, friezes from the temple of Nike Apteros);
• sculptures from the temple of Epicurean Apollo in Bassae - 23 details of the frieze of the temple;
• details of the Mausoleum in Halicarnassus (two huge figures depicting, presumably, King Mausolus and his wife Artemisia;
• part of the sculpture of a horse from a chariot crowning the Mausoleum;
• frieze depicting scenes of Amazonomachy - the war of the Greeks and Amazons);
• a brooch from Braganza - a golden ornament-fibula (3rd century BC);
• terracotta sarcophagus of the Etruscan aristocrat Seyancia Hanunia Tlesnasa (2nd century BC);
• gladius from Mainz - Roman sword and scabbard (beginning of the 1st century AD)

The collection of this department, numbering 330,000 exhibits, is without a doubt the largest collection of Mesopotamian antiquities outside of Iraq. Practically all civilizations and cultures of the ancient Near East are represented in the collections of the department - Mesopotamia, Persia, Arabia, Anatolia, the Caucasus, Syria, Palestine, Phoenicia and its Mediterranean colonies.

The funds of the department began to form in 1772, but they replenished at an especially rapid pace after the start of full-fledged archaeological expeditions in Mesopotamia (Iraq) in the middle of the 19th century. The discovery of the ruins of the palaces and archives of the Assyrian kings in Nimrod and Nineveh, excavations in Karchemish (Turkey), Babylon and Ur (Iraq) greatly enriched the collection of the museum. The cultures of the countries surrounding Mesopotamia are also widely represented - the Achaemenid Empire (in particular, the famous Amu Darya treasure), the Palmyra kingdom and Urartu. One of the largest collections of Islamic art (about 40 thousand items) is also kept - ceramics, fine art objects, tiles, glass, seals, etc. Of the entire wealth of the department's funds, only a small part is exhibited - 4,500 items occupying 13 galleries.

The most valuable exhibits of the department:

• Bas-reliefs from the palace of the Assyrian king Sargon II in Khorasabad;
• Gate from Balavat - bronze details of the entrance gate of the Assyrian fortress with images of the life of kings;
• Cylinder of Cyrus from Babylon;
• Bronze collection from Urartu;
• Amu Darya treasure (or Oka treasure) - a treasure of 180 gold and silver items of the Achaemenid period (VI-IV centuries BC), found on the territory of present-day Tajikistan.

Items from Nimrod:

• alabaster bas-reliefs from the palaces of the Assyrian kings Ashurnazirpal II, Tiglathpalasar III, Esarhaddon, Adad-nirari III;
• two sculptures of lions human heads- "Lamassu" (883-859 BC);
• huge lion statue (883-859 BC)
• the black obelisk of Shalmaneser III (858-824 BC);
• statue of Ashurnasirpal II;
• statue of Idrimi (1600 BC)

Items from Nineveh:

• alabaster reliefs from the palaces of the Assyrian kings Ashurbanipal and Sennacherib with scenes of hunting and palace life, in particular the Dying Lion relief, considered a masterpiece of Assyrian art;
• royal library of Ashurbanipal (22 thousand clay tablets with cuneiform texts);
• a tablet with the text of the myth of the Flood, considered part of the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Finds from the Sumerian city of Ur:

• “Standart of War and Peace” (c. 2500 BC) - two wooden panels of unclear purpose with scenes of war and peace inlaid with mother-of-pearl;
• "Sheep in the bushes" (c. 2600-2400 BC) - a figure of a ram standing on its hind legs and leaning on the trunk of a bush. The figure is made of wood and decorated with gold, silver and lapis lazuli;
• "Royal Game" (c. 2600-2400 BC) - a set for a board game, one of the oldest in the world;
• The Queen's Harp (c. 2500 BC) is one of the oldest stringed musical instruments. It has the shape of a bull, made of sandstone, the bull's head is golden.

Department of Ancient History and Europe

The collection of this department includes items related to both ancient periods human history (from 2 million years ago), and to the history of Europe. The museum's funds relating to the period of the early European Middle Ages are the largest in the world. The most interesting exhibits:

Prehistoric:

• "Lovers from Ain Sakhri" - a stone figurine of the 10th millennium BC. e., found near Bethlehem and is the oldest image of people having sex;
• gold goblet from Ringlemer (England, 18th-16th centuries BC);
• a gold necklace from Sintra (Portugal, X-VIII centuries BC);
• decanters from Bas-Jutes (France, 5th century BC);
• the Cordoba hoard of silver objects (Spain, c. 100 BC);
• necklaces from Ourense (Spain, c. 300-150 BC)

Roman period in Britain:

• tablets from Vindolanda (wooden tablets with handwritten texts of the 1st-2nd centuries AD);
• the Thetford treasure (hoard of many silver and gold items from the 4th century AD);
• goblet of Lycurgus (4th century AD) - a Roman glass goblet, the peculiarity of which is that its glass changes its color from green to red depending on the location of the light source.

Early Middle Ages:

• hoard from Sutton Hoo (Engia) - items (ceremonial helmets, gold jewelry, weapons) found in two burials of the 6th-7th centuries;
• the Franks casket is an 8th-century whalebone box richly carved.

Middle Ages:

• chess pieces from the Isle of Lewis (Scotland) - 78 walrus tusk pieces (XII century);
• the royal gold goblet, or Goblet of St. Agnes, a gold goblet decorated with enamel and pearls, made for the French royal family in the 14th century;
• cancer for the holy crown of thorns (c. 1390s) - made of gold and richly decorated precious stones and pearls of cancer to store one of the most important Christian relics. Belonged to the French royal house;
• the Borradale triptych and the Werner triptych - Byzantine ivory triptychs (X century);
• triptych of John Grandison - ivory triptych (England, about 1330);
• staff of the Bishop of Kells (IX-XI centuries) - a staff with a silver knob, presumably belonging to the Bishop of Kells (Ireland).

Asia Division

The exhibits of this department represent the material culture of the entire Asian continent (with the exception of the Middle East) from the Neolithic to the present day. Most popular exhibits:

• the most complete collection of sculptures from India, including Buddhist limestone bas-reliefs from Amarawiti;
• an outstanding collection of Chinese antiquities - drawings, porcelain, bronze, lacquerware and jade;
• a collection of Buddhist paintings from Dunhuang (China) and the Scroll of Instruction by the artist Gu Kaizhi (344-406);
• the most extensive collection of Japanese art in the West;
• the famous hoard of Buddhist gold and silver sculptures from Sambas (Indonesia);
• a statue of Tara from Sri Lanka (VIII century);
• Buddhist vases from Kullu and Wardak;
• a huge statue of Buddha Amitabha from Gancui (China).

Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas

The British Museum has one of the largest collections of ethnographic material from Africa, Oceania and the Americas, representing the life of the indigenous peoples of these parts of the world. More than 350 thousand items of this collection tell about 2 million years of human history.

The gems of the collection include bronzes from Benin, a fine bronze head of an Idian queen, a magnificent brass head of a Yoruba ruler from Ife (Nigeria), Ashanti gold items from Ghana, and a collection of sculpture, textiles and weapons from Central Africa.

The American collection mainly consists of items from the 19th and 20th centuries, but also includes older cultures of the Incas, Aztecs, Maya, and Mystics. In the museum you can see, for example, a series of amazing Mayan door lintels from Yaxchilan (Mexico), a collection of turquoise Aztec mosaics from Mexico, and a group of Zemi figures from Vere (Jamaica).

Department of coins and medals

The British Museum owns one of the world's largest collections of coins and medals, with around 1 million items. The exhibits of the collection cover the entire history of coinage - from the 7th century BC to the 7th century BC. e. and up to our days. Museum visitors can see only 9,000 exhibits (most of them are placed in the gallery number 68, the rest - in different galleries of the museum).

Department of prints and drawings

The Department of Prints and Drawings of the British Museum is one of the largest collections of its kind, along with the collections of the Albertina (Vienna), the Louvre (Paris) and the Hermitage (St. Petersburg). Today, the department stores about 50 thousand drawings and more than 2 million engravings and woodcuts by prominent European artists from the 14th century to the present day. In particular, in the museum you can see collections of drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, one of the largest collections of drawings, engravings and lithographs by Durer (138 drawings, 99 engravings, 6 etchings, 346 woodcuts), Rubens, Rembrandt, Claude, Watteau and many others. The department also holds over 30,000 drawings and watercolors by prominent British artists. More than 500 thousand exhibits of the department are listed in the online database, many of them with high-quality illustrations.

Controversial issues of the museum

In recent years, the museum has faced claims from a number of countries and organizations regarding the ownership of certain art objects exported to England at different times. The museum rejects these claims on the grounds that "demands for restitution would destroy not only the British Museum, but every major museum in the world." In addition, the British Museums Act 1963 prohibits the removal of any items from museum collections. The items that are the most controversial are:

• sculptures from the Parthenon temple, semi-legally exported by the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire Count Elgin at the beginning of the 19th century. Greece demands the return of these cultural objects. They are supported by UNESCO;
• bronze sculptures from the Kingdom of Benin. Their return is sought by Nigeria;
• tabots - ritual tablets with ten commandments, taken out of Ethiopia by the British army;
• Amudarya treasure (Oka treasure). Tajikistan is seeking his return;
• Egypt demands the return of the Rosetta Stone;
• China has made claims regarding more than 24,000 scrolls, manuscripts, paintings and relics (including the Diamond Sutra) from the Mogao caves.

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Great Britain is a country of great cultural heritage, the number of museums per capita here is higher than in the whole world. There are collections and expositions for every taste and interest. Let's talk about the most famous about what you can see there and how to get there.

art museums

London is the recognized capital of the world art market. Therefore, there are many art galleries here. The most interesting museums in the UK:

• A group of galleries "Tate" in London, Liverpool, Cornwall, and the most famous of them - a gallery contemporary art- included in the top 10 most visited museums in the world.
• Gallery "Serpentine" in London, it hosts interesting exhibitions of contemporary art.
• The National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh, which houses an excellent collection of Western European art.
• London National Gallery, where you can see more than 2300 works by European painters.
• Saatchi Gallery in London. It houses the private collection of contemporary art by Charles Saatchi.

All art museums are open for free access and annually receive several tens of millions of visitors.

Specialized museums

England has a huge number of themed museums. They certainly include largest museum Great Britain - British. But it will be discussed later.

The largest in London is the Natural History Museum. It houses collections on botany, zoology, geology, and mineralogy. In total, the institution's funds number several tens of millions of exhibits. The museum is famous for the dinosaur skeleton installed in the lobby of the main building, as well as a large number of interactive exhibitions. For example, you can visit the rainforest, in space, feel the earthquake and much more. More than 5 million visitors come here every year.

Another interesting specialized museum is dedicated to maritime history. It is housed in a listed building at the Royal Naval College in Greenwich.

One of the most frequently visited is also the Beatles Museum. About 300 thousand fans of this group come here every year.

For modern children, the most interesting will be the Harry Potter Museum - this is a real immersion in Magic world novels by J. Rowling and films based on them.

Literary museums

England gave the world a lot famous writers, in honor of which interesting museums are open. Yes, the most famous literary museum Great Britain is considered the House Museum of Charles Dickens. It recreates the atmosphere of a real Dickensian house, as well as the atmosphere of a typical 19th century wealthy class house.

Another popular museum related to literature is the Sherlock Holmes Museum. Due to the popularity of the Sherlock series, the museum is experiencing a real boom in visitors.

Of course, it is difficult to imagine England without Shakespeare. In the town of Stratford-upon-Avon there is a house-museum of the great playwright. Here he was born and died, and the museum recreates the atmosphere in which Shakespeare's family lived.

Unusual museums

England would not be itself if it were not for the most amazing and eccentric museums. The first place among the most unusual museums in Great Britain is occupied by the Teapot Island Museum in Yolding. Here you can see almost 8 thousand teapots, as well as buy unusual teapots and souvenirs.

In the town of Maidstone there is a Dog Collar Museum, here you can see an exhibit from the 15th century and many later collars.

The unusual museum was created by the architect John Soane. He collected a huge collection of various antiquities from Greece, Egypt, India and made incredible collages and installations from them.

The most famous of the unusual museums in London is the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. Here are the figures of the most famous people peace. Visitors can take selfies with Trump or the Beatles and visit the Horror Room.

Even if you wish, you can visit the museums of pencils, mustard, teddy bears or lawn mowers.

Top 9 museums in the UK

Compiling a rating of museums in Britain is a thankless task, since the choice of a museum is largely a matter of taste. However, there is a simple selection criterion - the number of visitors. According to this indicator, the top 9 includes the following institutions:

1. British museum.
2. Victoria and Albert Museum.
3. National Museum of Scotland.
4. Design Museum.
5. Bunker Museum "War Rooms".
6. Cruiser Belfast.
7. Museum of Coal.
8. Transport Museum.
9. Kelvingrove Art Gallery.

British museum

The first place among the museums of Britain is rightfully occupied by The British museum. He began his work in 1753, during his existence he collected a huge collection of antiquities, art and everyday life. Including here an unprecedented number of exhibits from the archaeological excavations of Ancient Egypt, there is no such collection even in Egypt itself. Also here you can see many interesting exhibits from India, Oceania, Africa, the Middle East, a good collection of works of art, household items. Entrance to the museum is free, more than 6 million visitors come here every year.

Victoria and Albert Museum

Another famous museum in the UK is the Victoria and Albert Museum of Decorative Arts and Design. It is the world's largest collection of household items and arts and crafts. The institution was opened in 1852 in the wake of the 1851 World's Fair. Prince Albert wanted to exhibit somewhere those items that were exhibited at this exhibition, as well as the DPI collection. The money raised at the World's Fair was used to build the building. In 1899, on the initiative of Queen Victoria, the central building of the museum was built. In total, it occupies several buildings in South Kensington. The halls display a large collection of silver and tin items, works of art, and costumes. The museum has the largest collection of early British photography.

National Museum of Scotland

Another interesting UK museum is located in Edinburgh. Initially, it was conceived as a museum of antiquities. It contains a large collection of items from archaeological sites in Scotland, as well as in Ancient Egypt and in the East. But gradually the museum acquired other interesting exhibits. For example, an unusual exposition dedicated to Elton John has been created here, in other rooms you can see a stuffed cloned sheep Dolly, as well as exhibitions related to scientific achievements, with the natural history of Scotland.

Design Museum

This newest museum in London has become an innovation in museum business. The best works of contemporary designers are exhibited here, and for them this is a kind of professional recognition, a significant milestone in their career. And getting objects into the permanent exhibition is seen as a recognition of genius. Therefore, the museum not only allows you to see the most advanced design in the world, but also is a platform for professional communication between designers.

Bunker Museum "War Rooms"

Another interesting museum in London is dedicated to the Second World War and the activities of W. Churchill. This is his bunker. Here you can see the private quarters of the Prime Minister, his office, his wife's bedroom, the operational headquarters, from where Churchill controlled military operations. The museum is interesting for those who want to learn more about the history of Great Britain and the lives of famous people.

Cruiser Belfast

There is another interesting London museum on the Thames - this is the Belfast military cruiser, which is permanently laid up near the Tower Bridge. This ship is the pride of the British. It played a key role in the famous and most important naval battles of World War II. During the tour of the ship, tourists can see all the premises and get acquainted with its heroic history.

Museum of Coal

There is an unusual institution in the town of Blainevon: this is a real coal mine turned into a museum. To go down into the mine, you need to put on a real miner's uniform weighing about 5 kilograms. In the museum you can see how hard the work of miners is, get acquainted with their life and working conditions.

Transport Museum

There is another interesting museum in London, which contains about 1000 exhibits. These are various types of vehicles - from ancient to modern. There are many exhibits dedicated to the underground, which London is rightly proud of. It is interesting that some of the exhibits can be touched, climbed into them, and you can also try yourself as a driver of a car or a locomotive, which children really like.

Kelvingrove Art Gallery

Glasgow has an interesting private museum Kelvingrove. This is a real Scottish palace, which has a good collection of Western European art. There is also a wonderful collection of weapons and armor, there are antiquities and even an English fighter plane from the Second World War.

Great Britain is one of the few remaining monarchies today. The kingdom is located on the islands. Great Britain is associated with cultural and interesting vacation, so the museums of this country are worth visiting.

TOP 10 best museums in the UK

This gallery opens its doors to visitors completely free of charge. The paintings located in the gallery are located in it according to the historical periods in which they were painted.
The gallery was founded in the twenty-fourth year of the nineteenth century. The first exhibits were thirty-eight canvases, which patrons purchased from Angerstein. As a museum, the gallery opened its doors in the thirty-ninth year of the nineteenth century.

Many people and organizations took part in filling the gallery. Beginning with public institutions ending ordinary people who had the opportunity to make such an expensive gift as an object of fine art.

The museum was originally located on Pall Mall. As its popularity grew, it became inconvenient to have visitors in this building, so the decision was made to move the gallery to the north side of Trafalgar Square.
The new building was built in the thirty-eighth year. It was built according to the idea of ​​a famous architect named Wilkins.

It is the largest historical and archaeological gallery in the world. The museum building itself has archaeological and historical value.

The museum was founded in the fifty-third year of the eighteenth century. The first exhibits were provided by Hans Sloan, an English physician and naturalist. In addition, Count Robert Harley and antiquarian Robert Cotton took part in the opening of the museum. The latter also took part in the founding of the British Library, replenishing its collection with his books.
From the very beginning, the museum was located in Montagu House. This building of aristocratic origin and to this day is located in an area called Bloomsbury. The museum opened its doors to visitors in the fifty-ninth year of the eighteenth century.

Many exhibits ended up in the museum due to the government's decision to buy them from private holders and send them to this institution, other exhibits were sent to the museum immediately from the excavations.

This museum is considered the best in Europe in terms of the number of exhibits of arts and crafts. If we compare it with other museums in the world, this building ranks fourteenth in terms of attendance.

The area of ​​this institution is huge: five tens of thousands of square meters. The exhibits of the museum tell about five thousand years of history of human applied art. Here you can find everything: objects used by the ancient Egyptians and the latest inventions of mankind in terms of household use. You can visit this amazing institution absolutely free of charge on any day of the year.

The museum consists of one and a half hundred galleries and four million exhibits. Inside the museum is divided into six levels. This is done to make navigation easier. Each hall is equipped with a touch screen, with which you can find out all the necessary information about the exhibits of this hall.

In fact, it is the largest of its kind. At the moment, within the walls of this museum there are more than seven tens of millions of exhibits. They belong to various branches of science: from botany to zoology.

The museum, in addition to exhibitions, also conducts scientific activities: the works of its representatives are known throughout the world. In addition, a research center operates within the walls of the museum, the main activity of which is to preserve the integrity of the exhibits.
The museum was originally based on the collection of Hans Sloan. This collection was not treated well - the exhibits were sold and were not in the best conditions. This was brought to an end by Richard Owen, who was appointed caretaker in the fifty-sixth year of the nineteenth century.

First of all, he achieved the separation of the Natural History Museum from the British Museum. In addition, he was able to convince the authorities to provide the museum with a separate building. If we talk about documents, the Museum of Natural History became an independent unit only in the early nineties of the twentieth century, however, the collections moved to a new building already in the sixty-third year.

This establishment is one of the most popular attractions in the city. The very appearance of this city is due to a thermal spring gushing out of the ground.

The first data institutions belonged to the Celts. This people decided that the healing power of these waters comes from the gods, so they dedicated these buildings to them. The Romans believed that this place is associated with the goddess Athena and built baths that are popular to this day.

The construction of these structures took three hundred years. The building built by the Romans was destroyed by time, however, people built new institutions in its place.

This museum appeared when two others merged: the Royal and Antiquities. Their collections were divided into themes and combined with each other.

Now the visitor can see various finds made by archaeologists. One of the famous exhibits is a stuffed sheep Dolly. This animal is famous for its origin. She was born thanks to cloning, which occurred in the nineties of the twentieth century.

This museum includes various halls that were dedicated to people or even eras. For example, Elton John.

It is a bunker that served as the headquarters of the military company of Great Britain during the Second World War. It was discovered by Margaret Thatcher in the eighty-ninth year of the twentieth century. It is located under the Palace of Westminster in London.

The structure consists of several armored rooms, which are connected by thick walls and secret passages. The contents of these rooms were a military secret, so access to them was closed even to government officials.

Like many museums in London, it is the largest of its kind. Every year this institution receives more than half a million visitors. The area of ​​this museum is huge - more than eight hectares.

The exhibits of this museum tell about the history of railway vehicles. The collection includes several hundred locomotives and wagons, which in the past worked on railway in different periods.

It is the most famous of the young museums of this country. The exposition of this institution is completely dedicated to the Titanic liner, which tragically died. On the centenary of this sad event, this museum was opened.

This museum is located in Glasgow, in the park of the same name. The construction of the gallery began in the ninety-second year of the nineteenth century. As conceived by the architects Simpson and Allen, the building had to correspond to the Baroque style.

I am fond of hiking and traveling, photography and video filming.

I have been hiking since childhood. The whole family went and went - sometimes to the sea, then to the river, to the lake, to the forest. There was a time when we spent a whole month in the forest. They lived in tents and cooked over a fire. Perhaps that is why even now I am drawn to the forest and, in general, to nature.
I travel regularly. Approximately three trips per year for 10-15 days and many 2 and 3 day hikes.