List of major museums in the world. The largest and smallest museums in the world. Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

When you go traveling, there are many ways to create your excursion itinerary. But almost everyone includes a visit to museums. Museums are ideal place for history and culture lovers. Nowadays, the world's greatest museums offer a variety of interactive and interesting entertainment that can allow you to unlock the secrets of history through your own unique way. This selection contains 10 museums that are the most famous and recognizable landmarks in the world. You will be impressed by their appearance alone, not to mention what awaits inside.

1. Paris Louvre

Without a doubt the most famous museum in the world, the Louvre was a medieval fortress and palace of the kings of France before it became a museum two centuries ago. Even modernizing the square with the addition of a glass pyramid in its center does not take anything away from the historical charm of the Louvre Palace. The museum's collections, which range from the birth of great ancient civilizations to the first half of the 19th century, are among the most outstanding on the planet. You will find here the works of the most famous artists in history, such as da Vinci and Rembrandt. The main attraction of the Louvre is Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa.

2. Hermitage, St. Petersburg

This gigantic museum has the world's largest collection of paintings. This is a stunning place covering the history of the world from the Stone Age to the present, and the Golden Room is especially impressive with its amazing precious stones. The Hermitage Museum is the most visited in Russia. It is scenically located along the waterfront area in Downtown St. Petersburg. This is a whole museum complex, which includes six different unique buildings architectural design. Without a doubt, the Emitage is one of the greatest museums in the world, an outstanding landmark of St. Petersburg.

3. British museum in London

Millions of works of art from all continents are collected here. The British Museum's galleries focus on Egypt, Greece, Roman civilization, Asia, Africa and medieval Europe, tracing human history and culture. The Parthenon Marbles, which once adorned the Parthenon in Athens, are kept here. The museum attracts six million visitors every year. If you can't make it to the Egyptian Museum, then you can view the largest and most comprehensive collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts outside of Cairo right here. Also impressive is the new reading room of the British Museum, which you see in the photo below:

4. Egyptian Museum in Cairo

At the Egyptian Museum in Cairo you will find the most comprehensive collection of Egyptian art in the world. Among thousands of treasures also famous exhibits from the tomb of Tutankhamun. In 1835, the Egyptian government founded the "Egyptian Antique Treasure Service" in an attempt to stop the looting archaeological sites and arrange an exhibition of collected exhibits. In 1900, the Egyptian Museum building was built, which now houses more than 120,000 objects from the prehistoric era to the Greco-Roman period, including ancient sculptures of the Sphinx. If you are exploring the sights of Egypt, you should not miss the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

5. Uffizi Gallery in Florence

UNESCO estimates that 60% of the most popular artwork in the world are in Italy, and more than half of them are located in Florence. The Uffizi Gallery in Florence will amaze you to the core. This is definitely one of the finest collections of paintings and sculpture on the planet, with works dating back to the Renaissance by masters such as da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Caravaggio and many more. One of the main attractions here is Botticelli's Birth of Venus.

6. Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

Established in 1870, the Metropolitan Museum of Art houses more than two million works of art from around the world, from antiquity to modern times. You will find everything from Islamic and European paintings, to collections of weapons and armor. Although there are many other great museums in New York, such as the Guggenheim, the Metropolitan is one of the most essential. This is truly one of the greatest museums in the world.

7. Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam

8. Vatican Museum

The impressive Vatican Museum contains 22 separate collections, ranging from Etruscan and Egyptian art to maps and modern religious art. Even if you are not religious, you will still be impressed pure beauty and the splendor of Michelangelo's dome and Bernini's spiral columns. The main assets here are the renovated Sistine Chapel and the Raphael Rooms.

9. Prado Museum in Madrid

Although its collection is less impressive, the Prado is one of the most respected and visited museums in the world. The Prado Museum's greatest treasure is Spanish art, with works by Velazquez, Goya, Murillo, El Greco and many other celebrities. Although the museum specializes in paintings, it also houses a large number of drawings, coins, medals and decorative arts. The museum's neoclassical facade is typical of the city's 18th century architecture. Particular attention should be paid to the Three Graces by Rubens. It is one of the twenty most visited museums in the world.

10. National Museum Archeology in Athens

Completes the collection with greatest museums World Museum of Archeology in Athens. This is the best place to admire the masterpieces of ancient Greece.

There are huge museums under open air, and there are popular wax museums. Each country can be proud of its largest museum, among them the largest in the world has been chosen.

The largest open air museum

The Pirogovo skansen is considered the largest in Eastern Europe. It is located on one of the outskirts of Kyiv. The total area of ​​the museum is one hundred and fifty hectares. In total, Pirogovo has more than three hundred objects. The uniqueness of this scansen is also in the fact that it represents the whole of Ukraine, and not a separate region. The museum differs from similar scansen in other countries by the presence of theatrical performances. Religious and folk festivals are held on the territory. All museum objects are original and brought there from many regions of Ukraine. At least one hundred and thirty thousand tourists visit Pirogovo every year. A quick tour of the museum barely takes four hours. For comparison, the largest scansen in America is located in Wisconsin, with about sixty objects represented.

The museum-park “Ancient Siam” is recognized as the largest in the world. The second name of this open-air museum is Mueang Boran. This is one of the attractions of Bangkok. In that amazing place miniature copies of ancient buildings and temples of Siam, Cambodia and Laos are presented. Visitors have the opportunity to explore all the exhibits by riding a bicycle or using the services of an electric vehicle and a guide. The entire territory of this museum-park is about one square kilometer. On its territory there are more than a hundred famous monuments and attractions of Thailand.

The largest museum in Russia

Today the museum's collection includes works by Rembrandt, Cezanne, Pizarro, Leonardo da Vinci, Monet, etc. To accommodate all the exhibits, it took big square. The museum occupies several buildings, the central one being the Winter Palace. This large museum is located in the northern capital and is its decoration and a certain brand of Russia.

The largest museum in the USA

World fame The museum began to acquire at the beginning of the twentieth century, which was facilitated by a considerable number of unique exhibits. There is a painting by Auguste Renoir, five works by Jan Vermeer. Number of works of art of this museum has already exceeded two million.

The largest wax museum

The museum began with thirty figures that could “live” no more than two or three years. Madame Tussauds and her sons opened the museum in London in 1835. It was only after Tussaud's death that her sons invented a method of fixing wax, thanks to which the collection was able to expand. The figures of the museum are not only historical figures, but also famous musicians, politicians, scientists, porn actresses, etc.

The largest tank museum

Visitors can get acquainted with the experimental developments of domestic armored vehicles, which for a long time were inaccessible to inspection by ordinary citizens. Unfortunately, a number of exhibits have been lost, including the first Russian Lebedenko tank, which resembles a huge chariot. It is possible that someday the lost exhibits will be reconstructed.

The largest museum in the world

It is known that it covers an area of ​​more than one hundred and sixty thousand square meters. Its catalog contains almost four hundred thousand exhibits. For the sake of convenience of visiting it, the Louvre is divided into seven large parts. It is considered the center of the spiritual and artistic heritage of humanity.

And the most expensive painting in the world was painted in 1948.
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There are many museums in the world, some of them delight visitors with exhibits in the open air, others indoors, and others underground. Each country can boast of its largest museum, and among these we will choose real world record holders.

The largest museum in the world

Almost every conscious inhabitant of the planet knows about the French Louvre. Many books have been written and films made about him. If we take into account the criterion of area, then the Louvre is given only third place. But in terms of attendance and height measurements, it has no competitors. Be that as it may, the Parisian Louvre continues to be considered the largest in the world.

Its area reaches 60,000 square meters. The catalog of works of art includes more than 400,000 exhibits. Thanks to the division of the museum territory into several large parts, each visitor will be able to choose to view the direction in art that is closer to his soul. Better than the Louvre, no museum in the world can present in such detail the artistic and spiritual heritage of humanity.

The largest open museum

The so-called scansens occupy a key role among open-air museums. They are available in many countries. Skansens are prototypes of ancient settlements that characterize the identity of the national culture of a particular country. Staying in such an environment, you can feel the way of life of the people of that time. A tour in the Skansen includes not only the opportunity for the viewer to examine appearance houses, but also their interior. The unusual decoration of the premises and other details accurately convey the ancient way of life.

Eastern Europe famous for the Pirogovo scansen, which is located on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital. The museum area is very impressive, about 15 square kilometers. About 300 objects are shown here daily ancient life not only a separate region of the country, but all of Ukraine. Another difference from the bulk of skansen is that various theatrical events constantly take place here. Everyone is religious folk holiday in “Pirogovo” it is definitely celebrated.

The museum objects seen here are authentic, brought from all over Ukraine; there are practically no copies. The best specialists worked on the creation of this museum project. About 30,000 tourists come here every year. To even briefly explore the museum you will have to spend at least two days. “Pirogovo” left far behind the largest American scansen, which is located in the state of Wisconsin. For comparison, there are only 60 objects presented here.

“Ancient Siam” is the name of the largest museum-park on the planet. It is also known as Mueang Boran. Any tourist who is planning a trip to Bangkok should definitely visit here. This is one of the city's most popular attractions. Museum visitors will be able to see small copies of ancient architectural objects, such as the temple of Siam, Laos, and Cambodia. To be more mobile on the museum grounds, you can rent a bicycle or a recreational vehicle. If necessary, the guide is ready to lead an entertaining excursion. The area of ​​the museum is about one square kilometer. The number of museum objects reaches hundreds.

The largest museum in Russia

Probably, any Slav has heard about the famous St. Petersburg Hermitage; it is the largest museum in the country. Back in 1764, its official opening took place. Just imagine, there are about three million exhibits on display here. It is difficult to even guess what the cost of this entire fortune is. The foundation of the museum began with Catherine II, who once, after visiting Berlin, acquired large collection paintings, consisting of 225 canvases. They became the springboard for the creation of the future museum.

Over the years, the number of exhibits rapidly increased, and thus the largest museum in Russia arose. Here you can see rare artistic creations by Monet, Rembrandt, Da Vinci, Pissaro and others. It is clear that storing such a number of exhibits requires a large area. Several huge buildings, among which the most famous Winter Palace, form the territory of the Hermitage. This museum is often attributed the status business card Russia.

America's largest museum

Among the museums artistic arts The New York Metropolitan is considered the largest. It has been operating since 1870. The museum is never empty; many tourists visit it every day throughout the week. On average, this is exactly the amount of time it takes to inspect everything. And this is provided that you stay there all day. World fame came to the Metropolitan at the beginning of the twentieth century, when it became known that the museum had many unique exhibits. Among these, five paintings by Jan Vermeer and a painting by Auguste Renoir should be noted. TO today The museum contains about two million works of art.

The largest "wax" museum

There are more than seven hundred wax museums around the world, but they are not particularly competitors to the brainchild of Madame Tussauds. The main exhibition of the Tussauds Museum is presented in London; here you can see more than one thousand exhibits. In addition, the museum has its branches in many major cities of the world, including New York, Amsterdam, Berlin, Las Vegas, etc.

At the time the museum opened in 1865, Madame Tussaud and her sons could show people only 30 figures, whose lifespan usually did not exceed 2-3 years. After the death of the founder, the sons invented a method of fixing wax; it made it possible to increase the durability of the figures several times, thanks to which the collection was expanded. Among the exhibits, copies of appearance are not only historical figures, but also politicians, musicians and even adult film actresses.

The main thing that any traveler wants to get is an impression, which is why tourist routes always include visits to museums. The best museums in the world become points of attraction and attract people to their halls with thousands of unique exhibits. The very best museums in the world annually welcome millions of curious visitors into their walls. We won’t compile the top museums in the world and give them places on the pedestal, since they all deserve to be first, let’s just name the most famous museums peace.

Louvre (Paris, France)

The largest museum in the world, the Louvre, displays more than 400 thousand exhibits on 160 thousand square meters. Previously, the building served as royal palace, and since 1793 it has become a museum. Experts assure that even a few weeks are not enough to explore all the departments of the Louvre, so if you don’t have much time for an excursion, it is better to immediately go to the masterpieces indicated by signs, for example, to famous Mona Lisa da Vinci and the sculpture of Venus de Milo.

National Museum of Natural History (Washington, USA)

This museum, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution, has earned its place on the list of the most popular museums in the world for its centenary, as it is the most visited after the Louvre. Its collection, including dinosaur skeletons, precious minerals, historical artifacts and much more, totals more than 125 million exhibits and is constantly growing.

Vatican Museums (Vatican City, Italy)

An extensive complex of 19 museums tops the most big museums world in terms of the number of exhibits per unit area. Works of art have been collected here for more than five centuries. Most tourists strive first to get to the famous Sistine Chapel, but the peculiarity of the museum’s structure is that first they will have to overcome many other halls.

British Museum (London, UK)

The history of the British Museum began with the collection of Sir Hans Sloane, which he sold to the nation for a lot of money. Thus, the British Museum was founded in 1753, becoming the first national museum in the world. This attraction, one of the great museums of the world, is also called the Museum of Stolen Masterpieces, and there is an explanation for this - for example, the Rosetta Stone was taken from Napoleon's army in Egypt, and the Parthenon sculptures were cunningly taken from Greece.

Hermitage (St. Petersburg, Russia)

Famous museums in the world include the largest art, cultural and historical Russian Museum – State Hermitage Museum. It all started with the collection of Empress Catherine II, and the official founding date is 1764, when an impressive collection was acquired Western European painting. Today, the entire exhibition is housed in five buildings of the complex, the most popular of which is the Winter Palace.

Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, USA)

The great museums of the world are unthinkable without the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is a world treasury that tells everything and about everything - in addition to American art, at the Met you can see exhibits from all over the world, from ancient to modern. There is also a hall with clothes worn by people of all continents over the last seven centuries, an exhibition musical instruments, weapons and armor department and much more.

Prado Museum (Madrid, Spain)

It is recognized as extremely significant because it contains many masterpieces of painting and sculpture. In general, the collection is small - compared to previous museums, there are only 8,000 exhibits, the peculiarity is that most of them are world famous. It is in the Prado Museum that you can observe the most full meetings such artists as El Greco, Velazquez, Murillo, Bosch, Goya.

In addition to the most famous museums, many tourists are also interested in visiting them. So do not deny yourself this pleasure. Enjoy your travels!

Every year on May 18, the world celebrates International Museum Day. It appeared in 1977, when at the next meeting International Council museums proposal was accepted Russian organization on the establishment of this cultural holiday. Since 1978, International Museum Day has been celebrated in more than 150 countries. Today we invite you to familiarize yourself with the 10 best museums in the world.

Louvre. Paris

This is one of the largest art museums in the world. The Louvre was once an ancient castle of the French kings, built by Philip Augustus in 1190. As a museum, it was first opened to visitors on November 8, 1793. The Louvre occupies a space of approximately 195 thousand square meters, has a total exhibition area of ​​60,600 square meters .m. Today the museum's catalog contains 400 thousand exhibits. For convenience, the exhibition is divided into seven large parts: departments applied arts, painting, sculpture and graphics, ancient Egyptian department, department Ancient East and Islamic art, as well as a department of art of Greece, Rome and the Etruscan Empire. In general, even a week is not enough to get around everything. Therefore, if you are an ordinary average tourist who has allocated only one day to visit the Louvre, then visit only its main masterpieces, to which special signs lead. Or purposefully come to the painting department - the most impressive - and look at the works of Rubens, Rembrandt, Titian, Caravaggio, Durer, Goya, Vermeer and many others.

Vatican Museum. Rome

The Vatican Museum is the largest museum in the world: 1,400 halls, 50,000 objects, and to see all the exhibits on display you need to walk 7 km. Of course, all visitors first try to get to the Sistine Chapel. However, the structure of the museum is very unique: you can get to the farthest point - the Vatican Pinacoteca - only after passing all the previous ones. So you need to calculate the forces. You should start with Egyptian Museum, which is enough to go diagonally. and then run to the famous Belvedere, then to the Stanzas of Raphael. And finally to Sistine Chapel, rightfully called the main local shrine.

British museum. London

The British Museum was founded on June 7, 1753 on the initiative of the government and was officially open to visitors on January 15, 1759. Thousands of people took part in its creation and development. The British Museum is also called the Museum of Stolen Masterpieces or the Museum of All Civilizations. These names are justified. After all, the treasures presented in the museum were not obtained in the most honest way. For example, the Rosetta Stone, thanks to which scientists deciphered ancient hieroglyphs, like many ancient Egyptian monuments, was taken from Napoleon's army in Egypt. A similar story happened with the precious sculptural friezes of the Parthenon: the Englishman Lord Elgin took them out of Greece, having obtained written permission from the Turkish government. In the same way, the museum’s collection was replenished with sculptures of the mausoleum in Halicarnassus, the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus and many other works of art. True, the exhibition of paintings in the museum is small - that’s why there is the National Gallery in London.

National Science Museum of Japan. Tokyo

This museum was founded in 1871. Most Its expositions consist of natural science exhibits: stuffed animals, remains of dinosaurs and their modern models, etc. However, this museum is not only the largest museum in Tokyo and Japan, but also one of the best in the world. The museum has a “forest” hall and its own botanical garden, allowing you to appreciate all the richness flora of our planet. And the huge toothy skeletons floating under the ceiling and appearing from the blue twilight will not leave anyone indifferent. Of course, here you will also find traditionally Japanese exhibits, because the inhabitants of the country Rising Sun very proud of their culture.

Metropolitan Museum of Art. NY

You've probably heard about Museum Mile, which is located in New York between Fifth Avenue and 57th Street. This is where they are collected best museums USA, the largest of which is the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In this museum you can find almost everything: from Paleolithic artifacts to pop art. There are also collections of art from Africa and Oceania, the Middle East and Egypt, which can safely be called a rarity. Here you will find a special room that contains clothing worn by residents of all five continents over seven centuries. There is also an exhibition of art and architecture. medieval Europe, painting of the 12th - 19th centuries, as well as musical instruments different countries. However, the main place here is still given American art.

Prado Museum. Madrid

Madrid can safely boast of having one of the largest museums European visual arts. It was founded in 1819. However, the building continued to be completed until 1830. If we recall the history of Spain, for several centuries art in the country developed under the patronage of the church and the elite. This explains the appearance of most of the museum’s exhibition, which was collected by the royal family and the church. Here you will find paintings widely famous Raphael and the brilliant Hieronymus Bosch. Philip II loved the latter very much: the artist’s peculiar imagination was able to fascinate the monarch so much that he even placed several paintings on the walls of his own bedroom.

Guggenheim Museum. Bilbao

This museum is located in the city of Bilbao, in northern Spain. It is just one of the branches of the museum contemporary art Solomon Guggenheim, located in the USA and the brightest of them, is recognized as the most outstanding architectural project in the world. The museum has thematic halls: the hall of surrealism, which presents Dali, Magritte, Delvaux and Tanguy, the hall of cubism, crowned with masterpieces by Picasso, Léger and Chagall, the hall of futurism and abstractionism - Braque, Kandinsky. Its collection also includes works by Andy Warhol, Fernand Leger, Kandinsky and others. And here you can see the collection of one of the most significant and extravagant collectors avant-garde art- Peggy Guggenheim.

State Hermitage Museum. Saint Petersburg

The State Hermitage is the largest art, cultural and historical museum not only in Russia, but throughout the world. It owes its origins private collection Russian Empress Catherine II. When the collection was already large enough, the Hermitage was formed and in 1852 it was opened to visitors, being at that time the Imperial Museum. However, the founding date of the museum is considered to be 1764, because it was then that the empress acquired a large collection of Western European paintings. Today the museum has more than three million works of art and monuments of world culture. Its structure is quite complicated. It is a complex complex: six majestic buildings, led by the well-known Winter Palace, which occupies the main exhibition of the museum, are located along the embankment of the Neva River.

State Tretyakov Gallery. Moscow

State Tretyakov Gallery is one of the most significant collections of Russian fine art on a global scale. Russians owe the presence of such a rich gallery to the merchant Pavel Tretyakov, because it was from his collection of works Russian art- the largest in the world - the history of the gallery began. The Tretyakov Gallery is famous for its exhibition in the engineering building of Russian painting of the 11th - early 20th centuries, which is part of the All-Russian Museum Association State Tretyakov Gallery, formed already in 1986. Which also includes: Showroom in Tomachi, House-Museum of P.D. Korina and the House-Museum of V.M. Vasnetsov, A.M. Apartment Museum Vasnetsov and the Museum-Workshop of the sculptor A.S. Golubkina.

Rijksmuseum. Amsterdam

Rijksmuseum - main state museum Holland. It is housed in a huge ancient neo-Gothic palace with Burgundian towers and sculptural reliefs, which was built back in 1885. Its main exhibition is dedicated to the great Dutch artists XV-XVII centuries Among them you will find such world names as Rembrandt, Vermeer and de Hooch. The size of the museum is impressive and you can’t get around it in one day, because the Rijksmuseum has 200 halls. However, the main exhibitions can be quickly viewed, starting with the main exhibit - the famous work of art by Rembrandt The night Watch. He is given a place of honor in the Gallery of Fame. And at the end of the museum marathon, you can go to the Museumplein - a huge lawn square with a wonderful view of the Museum Quarter.