The 12 best museums in the world to visit

Louvre, Paris

The queues to the Louvre are counted not by meters, but by kilometers - this is the most eloquent confirmation of its awesomeness!

Today the collection of the museum consists of more than 350 thousand objects and works of art, which were created in the period from antiquity to the first half of the XIX century. The exhibits are thematically distributed in several expositions: Ancient East, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Etruria and Rome, Art of Islam, Sculptures, Objects of Art, Fine Arts, and Graphic Arts.

Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa painting, as well as the sculptures Venus of Milos and Nika of Samothrace are considered the main attractions of the Louvre.

In 2018, these treasures were seen by 10,200,000 tourists.

Address: Palais Royal, Musée du Louvre.

Opening hours: Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 to 18:30, Wednesday and Friday from 09:00 to 21:45. Tuesday is a day off. The ticket office closes half an hour before the museum closes.

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Vatican Museum Complex, Vatican

The art objects on display in this complex are truly awe-inspiring. There are 22 art collections in the Vatican Museums and perhaps the most famous of these is in the Pius Climenta Museum, which features magnificent classical sculptures. But, of course, the main attractions of the Vatican museums are the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, and Raphael's stanzas.

Undoubtedly, every art lover should visit here. In 2018, 6,756,186 people visited the Vatican Museums.

Address: Viale Vaticano.

Opening hours: Monday through Saturday from 9:00 to 18:00 (the ticket office is open from 9:00 to 16:00). On Sunday (except the last Sunday of each month) admission is free from 9:00 to 12:30, and the museums close at 14:00.

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Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City is the largest art museum in the United States with the largest collection in the world. It houses true cultural treasures that were created from antiquity to the present day. In the museum you can see paintings and sculptures of almost all European masters. There are Botticelli, Rembrandt, Degas and Rodin - the grandeur and beauty is breathtaking.

Among the most impressive masterpieces of the museum is the copper engraving "Adam and Eve" by Albrecht Dürer. The collection of contemporary art here is also impressive.

In 2018, 6,953,927 people visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Address: 1000 Fifth Avenue.

Opening hours: Monday-Thursday and Sunday from 10:00 to 17:30, Friday and Saturday from 10:00 to 21:00. Weekends are Thanksgiving (fourth Thursday in November), December 25, January 1, and the first Monday in May.

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Smithsonian Institution Museums, Washington, DC

This is the largest museum complex in the world, with 19 museums and galleries. The most famous are the National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Air and Astronautical Museum and others.

The Smithsonian Institution museums have more than 137 million objects describing the history of America. Seeing everything at once is certainly unrealistic, so focus on a couple of museums or exhibitions.

Museum highlights include the most famous of diamonds, the Hope Diamond at the National Museum of Natural History; the 1903 Wright Brothers airplane, the Spirit of St. Louis airplane and the Apollo 11 spacecraft at the National Air and Astronautical Museum.

The address is 1000 Jefferson Dr SW.

Museum hours are 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily:30, with a day off on December 25.

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National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

This museum houses one of the world's finest collections of American and European masters. Paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculptures, medals, and decorative arts tell gallery visitors about the development of Western art from the Middle Ages to the present day.

Masterpieces in the collection include works by Rembrandt, Monet, and Van Gogh. The National Gallery of Art is home to America's only Leonardo da Vinci painting.

Address: Constitution Ave. at 4th Street, NW.

Opening hours: daily from 11:00 to 18:00.

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British Museum, London

This museum in London is dedicated to human history and culture. It exhibits archaeological and ethnographic collections that number more than eight million objects. And the museum's Egyptian Gallery boasts the second best collection of Egyptian antiquities in the world, including, for example, the Rosetta Stone with a thank-you inscription carved on it in 196 BC.

In 2018, 5,820,000 people visited the British Museum. Admission is free.

Address: WC1B 3DG, London, Great Russell Street

Opening hours: daily from 10:00 to 17:30. Some departments are open until 20:30 on Thursdays and Fridays.

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Tate Modern, London

This is the most popular contemporary art gallery in the world! The Tate Modern opened in a former power station on the banks of the River Thames in 2000. The collection includes works of art from 1900 to the present day, including works by Picasso, Malevich and Kandinsky. Impressionism, abstractionism, cubism, surrealism, pop art and other modern genres are represented here. In addition to paintings, sculptures, posters and installations can be seen at the Tate Modern.

Some of the exhibitions in the gallery are paid, but most, like many other museums in London, are absolutely free. In 2018, 5,868,562 people visited the gallery.

Address: London SE1 9TG, Bankside.

Opening hours: Sunday-Thursday from 10:00 to 18:00, Friday and Saturday - from 10:00 to 22:00.

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Imperial Palace Museum, Taipei

The Imperial Palace Museum is one of the national museums of the Republic of China. Located in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, it houses some 696,000 ancient Chinese artifacts and works of art.

Such an impressive collection tells the story of more than 8,000 years of Chinese history from the Neolithic period to the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912). Much of the collection was formed by the emperors of China.

Painting and calligraphy, as well as rare books (the collection contains up to 200 thousand unique volumes) are considered the main attractions of the museum. In 2018, the museum received 8,610,092 visitors.

Address: Zhi Shan Rd, 221, Shilin District.

Working schedule: daily from 8:30 to 20:30. The ticket office is open until 18:00.

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Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

The largest and most visited museum in the Netherlands opened its doors in the early 19th century and became "home" to more than 8000 exhibits. It houses paintings by famous Dutch artists such as Rembrandt, Vermeer, Hals, Hoch, Sten, van der Gelst, van Scorel and many others. Apart from the worthy collection of this museum, the building itself also acts as an architectural treasure.

Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam It is among the top 20 most visited art museums in the world.

Address: Museumplein/Museumstraat 1.

Opening hours: daily from 10:00 to 17:00.

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Acropolis Museum, Athens

And this archaeological museum houses some 4,000 famous artifacts from the Acropolis of Athens, the most important sanctuary of the ancient city. For lovers of antiquity, it's a must-see.

The museum's collection is spread over three floors. On the first floor you can see ancient elements found on the slopes of the Acropolis. The floor there is sometimes made of glass to be able to observe the excavations, which are still ongoing.

The Parthenon Hall (one of the largest in the museum) features ancient engravings - portraits of Poseidon, Artemis, Apollo, Aphrodite and Eros, and a view of the Parthenon through a glass wall.

The museum houses artifacts and sculptures from other buildings on the Acropolis, such as the temples of Niki Aptheros, the Erechtheion and the Propylaea, as well as artifacts from other eras - Roman and early Christian. Most of the museum's exhibits are related to religion, such as the ancient statues of gods, which were used in religious ceremonies in ancient times.

Address: Dionysiou Areopagitou, 15.

Opening hours: Monday-Thursday from 09:00 to 17:00, Yatnitsa from 09:00 to 22:00, Saturday and Sunday from 09:00 to 20:00.

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National Archaeological Museum, Athens

To learn more about ancient culture, visit the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. It is a real treasure box, an amazing collection of myths and legends embodied in statues, vases and sculptures.

The permanent exhibition of the museum consists of more than 20 thousand exhibits from different eras, and the collections of ceramics and sculptures are considered to be among the richest in the world.

Of course, one day is not enough to see all the riches of the museum, but you will still have time to be impressed.

Address: Patission Street, 44 .

Opening hours:

November - April:

Tuesday: from 13:00 to 20:00, Wednesday - Monday: from 09:00 to 16:00.

April - October:

Tuesday: from 12:30 to 20:00, Wednesday - Monday: from 08:00 to 20:00.

The museum is closed from December 25 to 26, January 1, March 25, on Orthodox Easter Sunday and May 1.

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Prado Museum, Madrid

If you find yourself in Spain's capital city, a visit to the Prado Museum is a must. It houses some of the most comprehensive collections of Bosch, Velázquez, Goya, Murillo, Zurbarán and El Greco.

Works in the Italian painting halls date from the early Renaissance (Fra Angelico, Mantegna, Botticelli) to the 18th century. In this amazing museum you can see paintings by Raphael, Caravaggio and Gentileschi. One of the most rich pictorial ensembles of the Prado is formed by the works of artists of the Venetian school - Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese and Bassano.

Address: Calle Ruiz de Alarcon, 23.

Opening hours: Monday - Saturday: from 10:00 to 20:00, Sunday and holidays: from 10:00 to 19:00. Weekends January 1, May 1 and December 25, on the eve of the holidays the museum is open from 10:00 to 14:00.

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