Europe is home to a variety of impressive museums dedicated to many parts of history and culture. Here are some of the most popular ones that people visit every year.
British Museum, London
The British Museum is a site dedicated to the history and culture of the United Kingdom. The museum is home to many pieces of art including many ancient Greek and Roman artifacts. There are more than three million different pieces held by the British Museum. The museum expanded in 2015 with the addition of the Renaissance artifact gallery supported by the Waddesdon Bequest. The British Museum is also home to an extensive lecture series with many speeches from historians and scientists held throughout the year at the BP Lecture Theatre. This is all housed in a large complex that features a Greek Revival exterior alongside a series of modern flourishes including a large glass dome roof for the Great Court.
Tate Modern, London
The Tate Modern is a popular modern art gallery located not too far from Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and the Millennium Bridge in London. The Tate Modern is situated in the former Bankside Power Station. It holds various works of contemporary art from as far back as 1900. The exhibitions here include those dedicated to concepts like structure, vision, dreams and abstraction. Artists like Picasso, Warhol, Povera, Boetti and Lichtenstein all have works on display at the Tate Modern. Various touring exhibits are also featured here throughout the year.
Vatican Museums, Vatican City
The Vatican Museums are found around the northern part of Vatican City. The museums feature more than fifty galleries of artifacts and art pieces that have been collected by Catholic popes since the early sixteenth century. The most prominent feature of the Vatican Museums is the Sistine Chapel, a large chapel famous for its massive ceiling painted by Michelangelo. The museums include a number of art galleries and sculpture museums. Many classic artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, Raphael and Correggio have works that can be found around the site. There are also a number of elaborate and exotic gardens located all around the Vatican Museums with the Pontifical Villas of Castel Gandolfo having many of the best sites to see. A series of papal basilicas, particularly the basilicas of Saints Peter, Mary Major and John Lateran, can also be found around the museums.
Musee D’Orsay, Paris
Located not too far from the Seine, the Musee D’Orsay is a prominent Parisian museum located in a former railway station from the late nineteenth century. The museum is mostly home to works of French art from the nineteenth century. It has a large impressionist art gallery that features works from Van Gogh, Monet, Cezanne, Gauguin and Renoir. There are also a few architectural and photographic galleries located around the museum. There are thousands of paintings featured within the extensive collection held by this museum.
These unique museums with their many interesting and popular artifacts are among the hottest places to visit while in Europe.
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