When visiting some of the world´s metropolis, do not forget to check out the their beautiful museums. Exhibits of artistic, cultural, historical or scientific collections can be the highlights of your vacation. While there have been many posts and articles about the various collections found in museums, this post will focus on the museum buildings themselves. For the treasures housed inside, we may tend to overlook the beauty of these monumental architectural jewels. Have you been to any of these 25 amazing and beautiful museums? If you haven’t, you’re missing out. They are beautiful museums, why wouldn’t anyone want to go? https://twitter.com/list25 https://www.facebook.com/list25 http://list25.com Check out the written list - http://list25.com/25-magnificent-museums-you-have-to-visit-in-your-lifetime/ Here’s a preview: 25 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum – New York City, New York, USA Located on Fifth Avenue in the Upper East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, this museum is the permanent home of a renowned and continuously expanding collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern and contemporary art. In 2013, almost 1.2 million people visited the museum, which makes it one of the most popular exhibition sites in New York City. 24 Museum of Natural History – Vienna, Austria With over 30 million objects, this Austrian museum is one of the largest in Europe. It also serves as a working place for about 60 staff scientists. Their main fields of research covers a wide range of topics from the origins of our Solar system to the evolution of animals. 23 Vatican Museums – Vatican City, Rome, Italy Vatican Museums display works from the immense collection built up by the Roman Catholic Church throughout the centuries including some of the most renowned classical sculptures and most important masterpieces of Renaissance art in the world. In 2013, they were visited by 5.5 million people, which makes it the 5th most visited art museum in the world. 22 National Museum of Natural Science – Taichung, Taiwan Founded in 1986, the museum is divided into six parts housing the Space IMAX Theater, Science Center, Life Science Hall, Human Cultures Hall, Global Environment Hall, and Botanical Garden. With over 3 million visitors annually, it is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Taiwan. 21 Acropolis Museum – Athens, Greece Founded in 2003 on the ruins of a part of Roman and early Byzantine Athens, this museum focuses on the findings of the archaeological site of the Acropolis of Athens. Set only 300 yards away from the famous temple of Parthenon, its exhibit hosts nearly 4,000 objects. 20 National Folk Museum of Korea – Seoul, South Korea Established in 1945 by the U.S. Government, the museum in Seoul features replicas of historical objects to illustrate the history of traditional life of the Korean people. It has three main exhibition halls, with almost 100,000 artifacts. 19 Guggenheim Museum – Bilbao, Spain Designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, this museum of modern art is one of the most admired works of contemporary architecture. It notably houses large-scale, site-specific works and installations by contemporary artists. 18 Hermitage Museum – Saint Petersburg, Russia Founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great, Hermitage is one of the largest and oldest museums in the world. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display, houses over three million items including the largest collection of paintings in the world. It features works by author such as Renoir, Monet, Van Gogh, Velázquez, Michelangelo and Goya. 17 Oscar Niemeyer Museum – Curitiba, Brazil Inaugurated in 2002, this super-modern museum focuses on visual arts, architecture and design. It is also known as the Museum of the Eye, due to the distinctive design of the building. 16 Museum of Islamic Art – Doha, Qatar Established in 2008, it is one of the youngest museums on this list. It houses a collection of works gathered since the late 1980s, including manuscripts, textiles and ceramics and boasts of one of the world’s most complete collections of Islamic artifacts. 15 Louvre Museum – Paris, France Located on the right bank of the river Seine, Louvre is the world’s most visited museum. In 2012, it received almost 10 million visitors who admired unique exhibits spreading over an area of more than 650,000 square feet. 14 Potala Palace – Lhasa, Tibet Built at an altitude of 12,100 feet on the side of Marpo Ri in the center of Lhasa Valley, Potala Palace has been the chief residence of the Dalai Lama but it recently also started to serve as a museum of Chinese history and culture. The monumental building consists of thirteen stories, containing over 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines and about 200,000 statues. [...]

• published: 19 Sep 2014
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