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British Museum
A landmark of world culture in the heart of London, this museum brings together objects from across continents and centuries. Its galleries are known for telling big human stories through famous treasures as well as everyday things.
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The British Museum is a public museum in Bloomsbury, London, devoted to human history, art, and culture. It was founded in 1753 and opened to the public in 1759, and it is widely described by the museum and the UK government as the first national public museum in the world.
Its collection includes more than 8 million works from across the globe, making it one of the largest and most comprehensive museum collections anywhere. Visitors often know it for iconic objects such as the Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon sculptures, but the museum’s broader aim is to trace human culture from its beginnings to the present.
Today, it remains one of the UK's best-known museums, with free general admission and major galleries covering regions from ancient Egypt and Greece to Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Britain. Alongside its popularity, it is also part of ongoing public debate about collecting history, cultural ownership, and the return of contested objects.