The British Museum in London is one of the world's largest and most important museums of human history and culture. It was established in 1753 and was based largely 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. The British Museum is home to the national collection of antiquities and it contains over seven million objects from all continents illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its beginning to the present. The museum departments include: Egyptian, Greek and Roman, Pre-historic, Oriental, Japanese, British and European.
Highlights of the collections include:
- The Elgin Marbles carvings from the Athenian Parthenon
- The Portland Vase
- Lindow Man
- The Rosetta Stone
- Egyptian Mummies
- The Cyrus Cylinder and many other Persian artifacts
- Sutton Hoo treasure
- The Mildenhall Treasure
Admission: free
Location: Great Russell Street, WC1
Telephone: 020 7323 8000
Open: Daily 10.00-17.30, (viewings of selected galleries on late night - Thurs-Fri until 20.30), The Great Court is open Sun-Wed 9.00-18.00, Thurs-Sat 9.00-23.00
Nearest tube station(s) Holborn, Tottenham Court Road, Russell Square, Goodge Street.
Website: www.britishmuseum.ac.uk
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