Landmark Europe

British Museum

The British Museum is a huge museum in London. It is full of very old things from all over the world. Its front has tall stone columns.

The British Museum in London was founded in 1753 and opened in 1759. It holds treasures from all over the world, like the Rosetta Stone, which helped people learn to read Egyptian hieroglyphs. Its grand building with columns was built from 1823 to 1847, and in 2025 it had more than 6.4 million visits.

Founded by act of Parliament in 1753 on the collections of Sir Hans Sloane, Robert Harley and Sir Robert Cotton, the British Museum opened in Montagu House in 1759. Robert Smirke's Greek Revival quadrangle replaced it in stages from 1823 to 1847, and Norman Foster's glass-roofed Great Court opened in 2000. It is a national museum of world archaeology and ethnography.

Explore

Photo: Ham, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Discover the British Museum

The British Museum is in London, a big city in England.

It keeps very old things from all around the world. There are mummies, statues, coins and ancient writing. Its front looks like an old Greek building, with rows of tall columns.

The British Museum stands in Bloomsbury, a part of London. It is a national museum of the United Kingdom. It is especially famous for archaeology, the study of things people left behind long ago, and for objects made by people from many cultures.

The museum was set up in 1753 and opened its doors in 1759, which makes it more than 260 years old. In 2025, it had 6,440,120 visits, the second most of all the attractions counted by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions.

The British Museum, on Great Russell Street in Bloomsbury (London Borough of Camden), is a comprehensive national museum whose holdings are particularly strong in archaeology and ethnography. It was established by act of Parliament in 1753 and opened to the public in 1759.

The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions recorded 6,440,120 visits in 2025, second only to the Natural History Museum among its members and 1 percent fewer than in 2024. The building is protected as a Grade I listed building, first listed on October 24, 1951.

Founded: 1753, by act of Parliament
Opened to the public: 1759
Building: 1823 to 1847, by Sir Robert Smirke
Visits (2025): 6,440,120

Façade of the British Museum — Photo: Ham, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Three collections become one museum

Long ago, a man named Hans Sloane collected many interesting things.

His collection, and two others, were used to start the museum. At first it was in an old house. Later, a much bigger building was made.

In 1753, the British Parliament passed a law to create a museum. It was based on three big collections, including that of Sir Hans Sloane, plus many books and old handwritten documents. The objects went into a mansion called Montagu House, which opened to the public in 1759.

The collection kept growing. In 1881 the natural history collections moved to a new building and became the Natural History Museum. In 1973 the museum's library became part of the new British Library, and its books moved to their own building in 1997.

The 1753 act founded the museum on three collections, those of Sir Hans Sloane, Robert Harley (1st Earl of Oxford) and Sir Robert Cotton, which included many manuscripts and other library materials. They were housed in Montagu House on Great Russell Street and opened to the public in 1759.

Growth reshaped the institution. The natural history collections moved to South Kensington in 1881 to form the Natural History Museum. In 1973 an act of Parliament joined the museum's library with other holdings to create the British Library; about half of it remained at the museum until the new library building at St Pancras opened in 1997. Restoring the Reading Room and building the Great Court followed, both opening in 2000.

A Greek-style building in stone

The building is made of pale stone.

It was built one part at a time, around a big square yard. The front has 8 tall columns in a row and a triangle-shaped top full of carved people.

The building was designed by the architect Sir Robert Smirke in the Greek Revival style, copying the look of ancient Greek temples. It is made of Portland stone and was built in stages from 1823 to 1847, as four wings around a big open courtyard. The old Montagu House was knocked down to make room for the front.

The east wing came first, in 1823 to 1826, to hold the library of King George IV. The front, finished in 1847, has a porch with eight columns across it. Above them is a triangular pediment filled with carved figures.

Smirke planned a large quadrangle of Portland stone around an open courtyard, two main storeys high, extending north from Montagu House and built in stages: the East Wing (1823 to 1826) for George IV's library and the Angerstein pictures, later the basis of the National Gallery; the West Wing (1831 to 1834) and North Wing (1833 to 1838) for antiquities; and the South Range (1842 to 1847), the principal facade, after Montagu House was demolished around 1840.

The East Wing was an early use of iron beams encased in concrete, by the engineer John Rastrick. The south front has an Ionic octastyle portico (eight columns across) with a sculpted pediment, the "Progress of Civilisation" by Westmacott, projecting from a massive colonnade that runs around the wings. Sydney Smirke filled the courtyard with the round Reading Room (1852 to 1857) under a domed cast-iron roof.

Treasures from around the world

The museum has a famous stone with writing on it. It helped people read ancient Egyptian picture-writing.

There is gold and shell treasure from a very old city. There is also treasure from a buried ship!

One of the most famous objects is the Rosetta Stone. It has writing in three scripts: Egyptian hieroglyphs, another Egyptian script called demotic, and Greek. It gave scholars the key to reading hieroglyphs, a writing system made of pictures and symbols.

The museum also has gold, silver and shell work from the ancient city of Ur in Mesopotamia, Assyrian finds from the ancient cities of Nimrud and Nineveh, a glass vase from the first century found near Rome, and treasure from a ship burial at Sutton Hoo in England, from the 600s. There are also Chinese ceramics, and sculptures from the Parthenon in Athens.

Britannica lists among its famous holdings the Rosetta Stone, which provided the key to reading Egyptian hieroglyphs; Greek sculpture from the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus; the Black Obelisk and other Assyrian finds from Nimrud and Nineveh; gold, silver and shell work from Ur; the Portland Vase, a 1st-century cameo-glass vessel found near Rome; the 7th-century ship-burial treasure from Sutton Hoo in Suffolk; and Ming and other Chinese ceramics.

The most debated are the Parthenon sculptures, often called the Elgin Marbles, removed from the Parthenon in Athens in the early 19th century by arrangement of Thomas Bruce, 7th Lord Elgin. The Greek government has repeatedly asked for their return; the museum has declined, giving reasons including that it saved them from damage, and the question remains disputed.

Columns across the portico: 8 (Ionic)
Reading Room: 1852 to 1857
Great Court opened: 2000
Heritage: Grade I listed building (1951)

The Great Court and Reading Room

In the middle of the museum is a huge room with a glass roof.

In its center is a round room with a dome. Long ago, famous writers came there to read and study.

Since the 1850s, the old courtyard in the middle of the museum has held the round Reading Room, with its copper dome. Famous writers and thinkers, such as Virginia Woolf, studied there.

When the library's books moved out, the Reading Room was restored, and the architect Norman Foster covered the courtyard around it with a glass roof. This space, the Great Court, opened in 2000. The King's Library, the first part of the building to be built, was also restored and now has an exhibition about the Age of Enlightenment.

The round Reading Room, designed by Sydney Smirke and built from 1852 to 1857 in the former courtyard, sits under a copper dome with a cast-iron roof; scholars such as Karl Marx, Virginia Woolf, Peter Kropotkin and Thomas Carlyle worked there. After the library's books left, its interior was restored to its original appearance, and Norman Foster's glass-roofed Great Court was built around it. Both opened to the public in 2000.

For the museum's 250th anniversary in 2003, the King's Library (1823 to 1827), the first part of Smirke's building to be constructed, was also restored; it now houses a permanent exhibition on the Age of Enlightenment. Some galleries damaged in World War II were later remodeled for display.

Amazing facts

The Rosetta Stone helped people read Egyptian picture-writing.

The Rosetta Stone gave scholars the key to reading Egyptian hieroglyphs. It is one of the museum's most famous objects.

The Rosetta Stone, carrying hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek texts, provided the key to reading Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Famous writers once studied in the museum's round reading room.

Famous writers and thinkers, such as Virginia Woolf and Thomas Carlyle, studied under the copper dome of the round Reading Room.

Beneath the Reading Room's copper dome worked Karl Marx, Virginia Woolf, Peter Kropotkin and Thomas Carlyle.
The Natural History Museum began as part of the British Museum.

The British Museum used to keep natural history collections too. In 1881 they moved to a new building and became the Natural History Museum.

In 1881 the original natural history collections were transferred to South Kensington to form the Natural History Museum.
Some of the museum's beams are iron inside concrete.

The museum's east wing, built from 1823, was an early building to use iron beams covered in concrete.

The East Wing (1823 to 1826) is an early example of iron beams clad in concrete, by the engineer John Rastrick.

Words to know

archaeology: the study of the past through the things people left behind
column: a tall, round pillar that holds up part of a building
pediment: the triangle-shaped part above the columns at the front of a Greek-style building
hieroglyphs: the picture symbols ancient Egyptians used for writing
Greek Revival: a style of building from the 1800s that copies ancient Greek temples
collection: a group of objects gathered and kept together

Discovery challenge

Which city is the British Museum in?

In which city is the British Museum?

In which city's Bloomsbury district does the British Museum stand?
- Paris
- London
- Rome
Show the answer

London

London! It is a big city in England.

The British Museum is in Bloomsbury, in London.

It stands on Great Russell Street in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden.
Which stone helped people read Egyptian picture-writing?

Which object in the museum helped people learn to read Egyptian hieroglyphs?

Which object in the collection provided the key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs?
- The Rosetta Stone
- The Portland Vase
- The Black Obelisk
Show the answer

The Rosetta Stone

The Rosetta Stone! It has three kinds of writing on it.

The Rosetta Stone has three kinds of writing on it, including Greek, and it gave scholars the key to reading hieroglyphs.

The Rosetta Stone, with hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek sections, provided the key to reading hieroglyphs.
Who designed the museum building?

Which architect designed the British Museum's Greek-style building?

Which architect planned the Greek Revival quadrangle built from 1823 to 1847?
- Gustave Eiffel
- Victor Laloux
- Sir Robert Smirke
Show the answer

Sir Robert Smirke

Robert Smirke designed it.

Sir Robert Smirke designed it in the Greek Revival style, built in stages from 1823 to 1847.

Sir Robert Smirke; Sydney Smirke later added the round Reading Room (1852 to 1857).
How many columns stand across the front porch?

How many columns stand across the front of the museum's main porch?

How many columns wide is the Ionic portico of the south front?
- 2
- 8
- 50
Show the answer

8

8 columns! They stand in a row across the front porch.

The porch has 8 tall columns across the front, with a carved pediment above.

It is octastyle: eight Ionic columns across, under the sculpted pediment by Westmacott.

Nearby places

Explore next

For parents & teachers

What children will learn

Locate the British Museum in London and explain how it began from three collections.
Recognize Greek Revival features such as columns and a pediment.
Name some famous objects in the collection and discuss why museums collect objects from many cultures.

Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes

Talk about it

The Rosetta Stone has hieroglyphs and Greek on the same stone. How could a known language help someone learn an unknown script?
Greece has asked for the Parthenon sculptures to be returned. What are some reasons people give for keeping objects in a museum, or for returning them?
If you started a museum of your own life, which five objects would you put in it, and why?

Try at home or in class

Write a short message in two 'scripts': ordinary letters and a picture code you invent. Swap with a friend and use the letters to crack the code, like the Rosetta Stone.
Roll paper into tubes to make columns and use them to hold up a cardboard roof; test how many columns the roof needs.

Key vocabulary: archaeology, column, pediment, hieroglyphs, Greek Revival, collection

Where these facts come from

Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
British Museum , Encyclopaedia Britannica
The British Museum, Bloomsbury (Historic England list entry 1130404, Grade I) , British Listed Buildings (Historic England listing text)
Visits made in 2025 to visitor attractions in membership with ALVA , Association of Leading Visitor Attractions
Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)

Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 27, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.

Picture credits

Photo: Ham, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons · source · license
Photo: Ilya Grigorik, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons · source · license