Founded by an act of Parliament on June 7, 1753, the British Museum opened to the public in 1759 in Montagu House. Its present building was designed by Robert Smirke in the Greek Revival style and built in stages from 1823 to 1847, around a central quadrangle. The Great Russell Street facade carries 43 Ionic columns, each 45 feet (14 m) high, closely based on the temple of Athena Polias at Priene.
From 1854 to 1857 Sydney Smirke added the Round Reading Room, about 140 feet (43 m) across, then the second widest dome in the world after the Pantheon. In December 2000 Foster and Partners, with the engineers Buro Happold, covered the old courtyard with a glass-and-steel roof of 1,656 uniquely shaped panes. The Great Court is the largest covered square in Europe, with the Reading Room at its center.
Admission is free, except for loan exhibitions. The museum received 6,440,120 visitors in 2025.
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