World Most Famous Museums

r>If you have the opportunity to travel the world, you should take advantage of the chance to visit some of the most renowned and famous museums located across the globe. One of the most famous of these museums is the Louvre in Paris. The building in which the Louvre is housed dates back to the 12th century, making the structure by itself somewhat of a living history museum. The structure was originally built during the reign of Philippe Auguste; who ordered the impressive structure built to serve as a fortress from its position on the banks of the Seine. Later, the Tuilieres palace was constructed in close proximity to the fortress and the two sites were linked through the construction of the Grande Galerie. The building first began a foreshadowing of its history as an important museum in 1793 when various art collections were first housed there. Throughout the next years, more and more pieces of artistic and cultural significance were placed in the Louvre, particularly after the Touilieres was demolished in 1882. In the last century, the Louvre has housed a variety of impressive collections. The staff of the Louvre take pride in presenting an ever changing mix of artistic pieces that are of interest to the general public. In addition to the wide range of temporary exhibitions shown at the Louvre, one can also view and enjoy some 35,000 works of art permanently on display, spanning eight departments. These departments include paintings, sculptures, drawings, Islamic art, near Eastern and Egyptian antiquities as well as Greek and Roman antiquities.

The Hermitage, located in St. Petersburg, Russia is another museum that is well known world wide. Also known as the State Hermitage, the museum spans a space of six separate buildings, located on the banks of the River Neva. One of the most important of this collections of facilities is the Winter Palace, once the royal residence of the Russian Tsars. The Hermitage is home to more than 3 million pieces that have been collected over the past two and a half centuries. The collection represents contributions from prehistoric art to a variety of antiquities from around the world as well as Oriental art and important items of Russian culture.

The National Gallery in London is also well known as one of the most famous museums in the world. The Gallery was established in 1824 by the House of Commons, when a collection of 38 pictures were purchased. It was not until sometime later that an official structure to house the growing collection was constructed, at a site in Trafalgar Square. The collection grew with the intent that the Gallery would be a museum for all, accessible to both the privileged and the poor. In the summer of 1939, the Gallery closed its doors for the specific purpose of evacuating the paintings to various destinations. These locations included a number of private residences as well as public buildings. Some of the pieces were secreted away to Wales while others were sent to Gloucestershire. The entire collection was evacuated in eleven days, finally completed the day before war was declared. During the war, the Gallery building itself served as a site for concerts. Today the National Gallery collections contains an impressive collection of paintings from all over Western Europe.

The Smithsonian Institute, located in Washington, D.C., has often been termed as the attic for the United States because it displays a vast collection of items representing history, arts and science. The Institute itself is actually comprised of a number of separate museums dedicated to a whole host of topics and subjects. Just a few of these museums include the National Museum of Natural History, the National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of African Art and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.

Located in New York City, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is often referred to simply as the Met. The museum houses an impression permanent collection of art from around the world; some two million pieces. The permanent collection also includes thousands of various objects such as arms and armor, sculpture and musical instruments. Special exhibitions are also offered through the Met; which in the past have included everything from Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids to a Sesquicentennial Celebration of Central Park.

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Title:	World Most Famous Museums
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World Most Famous Museums