List of Top 10 Oldest Museums in the World

Top 10 Oldest Museums in the World: When we mention museums, the first name that comes to your mind is the Louvre Museum in France, which is the most popular museum in the world and has been further made popular by movies like The Da Vinci Code, Wonder Woman, and Red Notice, to name a few.

Museums are places of great importance, as they are treasure houses of artefacts and sculptures of the past. The concept of museums dates back to 2500 years ago, when a Babylonian prince felt the necessity of presenting art and artefacts to the general public and also preserving artefacts for future generations.

Let us look at the top 10 oldest museums in the world, which have carefully preserved the works of great artists and civilizations.

Top 10 Oldest Museums of the World - Complete List

Here is a list of the top 10 oldest museums in the world.

1. Capitoline Museum, Rome, Italy

The Capitoline Museum is the oldest museum in the world. This museum was established in 1471 under the observation of Pope Sixtus IV. It is located in Rome, within walking distance of the Colosseum.

The Capitoline Museum was opened to the general public in 1734.

The museum got its first artefacts when Pope Sixtus IV donated a large number of artworks and sculptures to the museum.

2. The Vatican Museum, Vatican City

The Vatican Museum is the second oldest museum in the world. It was established in 1506 by Pope Julius II. It also houses some of the famous artworks like The Last Judgement by Michelangelo, School of Athens by Raphael and the first artwork of the museum Laocoön and His Sons.

3. The Royal Armouries, London

The Royal Armouries in London is one of the oldest museums in the world, after the Capitoline and Vatican museums. It was opened to the public in 1660 and displayed the crown jewels.

It is also home to the world’s oldest and largest collection of armouries in the world.

4. Kunstmuseum, Basel, Switzerland

The Amerbach Cabinet is a large collection of art found in the Kunstmuseum Basel, a heritage museum that was established in the year 1661. It is the world’s first university museum, followed later by The Ashmolean in Oxford

5. The Ashmolean, Oxford

The Ashmolean in Oxford is one of the oldest museums in Europe as well as the world. It was established in the year 1683 and served as an important source of artefacts and sculptures related to archaeological findings.

6. Louvre Museum, Paris

Louvre is one of the most famous museums in the world, it was established in the 13th Century as a palace for the kings. However, when King Louis XIV chose to move to another palace, the palace was converted into a museum.

7. Belvedere Palace, Vienna

Belvedere Palace is one of the oldest museums in the world. Before being converted into a museum in 1781, it was the royal residence of the Habsburg family. It contains artworks which are of Austrian origin.

8. Charleston Museum, United States

The Charleston Museum in the United States was established in the year 1773 and is home to decorative arts, Charleston stones, and important historical artefacts. The highlight of the museum is the skeleton of a 40-foot-long shark and a sloth that is twice the size of a man.

9. Hermitage Museum, St.Petersburg, Russia

The Hermitage Museum was built in the year 1764 and is one of the oldest Russian museums. It opened to the public in 1852. It is the largest museum in the world in terms of gallery space.

It is estimated that there are around 3 million artefacts, paintings, and other objects in the museum since its opening.

10. Indian Museum, Kolkata

The Indian Museum in Kolkata was established in the year 1814 by the Asiatic Society of Bengal in Kolkata. It is one of the oldest museums in the world.

The museum houses artworks, antiques, armour, and ornaments belonging to the past empires.

It has a significant amount of importance as it holds important artwork and artefacts of national importance.