~ Top 10 Museums of the World ~

[MysteRy]

Top 10 Museums of the World


1. Le Louvre, Paris, France



Le Louvre or simply "The Louvre” is one of the most visited museums in the world, and next to the Eifel Tower it is one of Frances most popular attractions. The grand museum features over 35,000 objects from before the 19th century in a uniquely designed 65,000 square foot building. The museum was opened in 1793 featuring just 597 artworks, mainly paintings, but was closed shortly after for 12 years to fix some structural problems that developed late in the design. Under the rule of Napoleon there were many royal artworks and artworks seized during crusades found within the museum. During that time the museum was renamed "Museum of Napoleon”. Once Napoleon was defeated the museums stolen works were returned to their original owners. The museum has a large history that is part of the experience when you visit, aside from all its unique and world-renowned works of art.

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2. State Hermitage, Saint Petersburg, Russia



Founded by Catherine the Great in 1794, the State Hermitage museum is one of the largest and oldest museums of art and culture in the world known today. The museum collections have been open for the publics eyes since 1853 and it has over 3 million items on display, which are just a portion of the museums permanent collection. The collections take up the space found in six historic buildings, making them the holders of the worlds largest collection of paintings in the world. One of the complexes was the former winter palace of past Russian emperors. Now the buildings make up the museum and are a highlight of the museum themselves. The museum has artworks from just about every era and culture in the world including prehistoric works and Greek pottery. When visiting the museum the admission is four times higher for foreign tourists, compared to the ticket price for Russian citizens but the admission is well worth the small cost.

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3. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA



The Metropolitan Museum of Art or "The Met”, as it is referred to by many, is another one of the worlds largest museums with over two million works of art on display at any given moment. It is just off the southeast side of Central Park on Manhattans Museum Mile. Another part of the museum is in the upper part of Manhattan; it primarily has medieval works on display for guests to see. Aside from artworks from every culture in the world, modern and ancient, the museum also has an extensive section dedicated to musical instruments from around the world. A giant collection of armor and weapons can be found in the museum as well, dating all the way back to prehistoric times. American businessmen, thinkers, artists and financiers opened the museum to the American public and its foreign visitors in the year 1870. Now the museum is a prized gem of the country.

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4. Smithsonian, Washington, D.C., USA



Probably one of the most publicized museums in the world due to its being featured in Hollywood films is the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC. It is the worlds largest Museum and research institutions in the world, having more than nine research facilities and around 19 museums dedicated to different works of art and artifacts. The Museum has over 146 million pieces in its extensive collection and it is so vast the museum has its own police force called the "Smithsonian Police”. Many of the museums complexes are registered historic sites and landmarks, making them an attraction in themselves. The founder of the museum, James Smithson, made the Smithsonian with the ideal in mind that it would be a place with the purpose of increasing and spreading knowledge. The British scientist wrote in his will that if his nephew, who was willed the right of the Smithsonian, died without heirs then the complex would be donated to the government, which it was.

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5. The Vatican Museums, Vatican City



More than 500 years old, The Vatican Museums are some of the oldest in the world, with paintings from Raphael and da Vinci on display. It is also home to the Gallery of Maps, one of the only galleries featuring pictorial maps dating as far back as the 1500s. It is said that the first piece of art was purchased in 1506 by the pope of that time and one month later it was put on display for the public to see. The history of the first piece of the museums vast collection is much deeper and has its own story, which can be discovered while touring the museums. Every year the museums are host to over 4 million visitors and since 2011, the number of visitors increased by one million. The collection has grown ever since the Roman Catholic Rule and continues to grow to this day.

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6. Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Netherlands



Rijksmuseum, in Amsterdam, is Amsterdams biggest museum and features a ton of great artworks including paintings from Rembrandt; the name of the museum actually means "state museum”. In actuality Rembrandts works make up a considerable portion of the museums collection. Other great artists works can be found in the museum as well. Asian art is part of the collection, too, alongside artworks from the Dutch Golden Age. Rijksmuseum holds annual exhibits and shares artworks with many of the worlds finest museums including Frances Le Louvre. The permanent collection is made up of over 1 million pieces of art and artifacts, but mainly the museum features paintings and drawings from the worlds most renowned artist. When you arrive at the renovated museum you will learn the history of the building itself, like the fact that the Phillips Wing that holds the 400 piece masterpiece exhibit is completely made of other buildings fragments.

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7. The British Museum, London, UK



Many consider The British Museum in London to have one of the most extensive history and culture collections in the world, numbering at around eight million works from almost every country. The timeline-like museum brings visitors on a trip through the ages in many different cultures, including one of the long-lived history of the Roman Empire. The museum was first established in 1753 and has been growing ever since. Maintaining its governmental ownership it does not charge a fee for entrance, so visitors can visit as many times as they would like with no expense. The Gothic Revival style that the museum was built in has over 45 columns facing Great Russell Street. Each of the columns is 45 feet tall. Many sections have been added to the museum over the years and it was once home to the National Library, which was moved from the grounds in 1997.

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8. The Prado, Madrid



The Prado is Spains national art museum and has one of the finest European art collections from the 12th to 19th centuries from the royal Spanish art collection. Of course it is the home of the largest collection of Spanish art from those centuries as well. The museum may only have around 30,000 pieces to its own collection, but they are some of the grandest works and there are always other various works on loan that are displayed throughout the museum at any given time. The majority of Prados collection remains in storage while the art works are rotated on an annual basis. One of the most recognized works is from Velazquez, who helped bring many Italian artworks to the museum in its early days. He also provided his own works as the museum developed into the grandeur that it expresses today. The restored Mona Lisa is on display at the museum almost year round.

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9. The Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy



The Uffizi, as it is known, was under construction in 1560 by the famous architect, Giorgio Vasari, who designed the initial buildings blueprints. The construction of Vasaris design was completed by two other architects and builders in 1521, just 22 years later. The early history of the museum makes it one of the oldest in the world. Italian art is the main exhibit at the museum but it has many other works as well. Michelangelo has many of his artworks displayed here and da Vinci as well. The works of Raphael are a spectacular sight to see, The Uffizi is indeed a home to the greatest artist of all time. The museum is by far one of the most popular attractions in Florence, Italy and at peak times it could take as long as five hours to enter the museum, unless you order your ticket in advance.

[MysteRy]

10. Egyptian Museum, Cairo, Egypt



The Egyptian Museum, of course, houses the largest collection of Egyptian antiquities in the world. The royal mummy room has around nine mummies on display at any given time. The mummy collection includes that of the recently discovered Queen Hatshepsut. The museum holds many of the key artifacts of Egypts history, and it is also the home of many of the pharaohs hidden treasures. Even though the building of the museum was completed in 1835, it quickly became obsolete as the collection of what is now over 120,000 antiquities, grew. The museums contents were moved four times before finding their final resting point in Tahrir Square. Just as recently as 2011, though, during the Egyptian Revolution, the museum was broken into and some of the artworks were damaged and two of the royal mummies were completely destroyed during the raid. Since then the museum has been restored and the works that could be restored, have been.