The British Museum is one of the most important museums in the world. Initially conceived as a library, it was founded by an English doctor and scientist, Sir. Hans Sloane, in 1753 and then bought by the British state for only twenty thousand pounds which opened it to the public in 1759. It is located in the wonderful setting of Great Russell Square, London.

Today, the British Museum boasts a priceless collection from prehistoric times to the contemporary age, for a total of nearly eight million exhibits. The museum is in fact divided into nine departments: ancient Egypt and Sudan, Greek Roman, Middle East, prints and drawings, prestige Great Britain and Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania and the Americas, coins and medals, scientific conservation. The library and archives are also added to these departments. Among the most famous finds on display, there are: the Rosetta Stone, presented to the museum by King George the third himself in 1802, the friezes, metopes and different parts of the Parthenon in Athens, The profile of an ancient Captain (also called the Condottiero ) made by Leonardo and the Fall of Phaeton, drawing by Michelangelo Buonarroti.

The entrance to the British Museum is characterized by the Elizabeth Court, a huge square courtyard surmounted by a glass dome, built in 2000.