British Museum

The British Museum in London is one of the world's greatest museums of human history and culture. Its collections, which number more than 13 million objects from all continents, illustrate and document the story of human culture from its beginning to the present.

The British Museum was established in 1753, largely based on the collections of the physician and scientist Sir Hans Sloane. The museum first opened to the public on 15 January 1759 in Montagu House in Bloomsbury, on the site of the current museum building. Its expansion over the following two and a half centuries has resulted in the creation of several branch institutions, the first being the British Museum (Natural History) in South Kensington in 1887. Until 1997, when the British Library opened to the public, the British Museum was unique in that it housed both a national museum of antiquities and a national library in the same building. Its present chairman is Sir John Boyd and its director is Neil MacGregor.

As with all other national museums and art galleries in Britain, the Museum charges no admission fee, although charges are levied for some temporary special exhibitions.

The British Museum houses the world's largest and most comprehensive collection of Egyptian antiquities outside the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. An unequalled collection of immense importance for its range and quality, comprising objects of all periods from virtually every site of importance in Egypt and the Sudan. Objects illustrating every aspect of the cultures of the Nile Valley (including Nubia), from the Predynastic Neolithic period (c. 10 000 BC) through to the Coptic (Christian) times (12th century AD), a time-span over 11,000 years.

Nearby stations
Tottenham Court Road Undergound
Goodge Street Underground

Wikipedia - British Museum

London Tourist Attractions

British Museum Great Russell Street, London WC1 Tel: 020 7636 1555

British Museum
Great Russell Street, London WC1
Tel: 020 7636 1555