Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto: exhibits, collections

In the Canadian city of Toronto is the famous exhibition complex "Royal Museum of Ontario", which is the largest ethnographic, cultural and historical center of North America. A huge number of exhibits brought from other countries, collections are constantly replenished.

The unique exhibition complex

ROM - Royal Ontario Museum (under such an abbreviation the museum appears in the documents) - is located at the intersection of Avenue Road and Blaur Street, borders the Queen's Park in the north and the Path of the Philosopher (the territory of the University of Toronto) to the east.

In Canada, many interesting things, but there are several attractions of national importance, including the Royal Ontario Museum. Toronto, a city of three million people, boasts a unique exhibition complex, whose history dates back to the century before last. Some expositions in numerous galleries and today reflect the events that accompany the appearance of ROM.

A bit of history

The Royal Ontario Museum was founded in 1857 under the Toronto Comprehensive School and was called an exhibition of fine arts and ethnography. In 1912, the provincial government of Ontario decided to create a museum. Originally it was an exposition located in the premises of the university. Belonged to the exhibition of the historical faculty. In 1968, the exposition acquired the status of an independent institution, separated from university structures and began to be called as it is known until today - the Royal Museum of Ontario. Toronto, the city at that time still not so populated, took under its care a new cultural institution. The exhibition complex began to develop at a rapid pace.

Visitors from all over the world

Toronto, Canada, Ontario Museum - this area for research attracts tourists from all over the world. Annually, more than a million antique lovers visit the unique exhibition. It would be more correct to first write "The Museum of Ontario", and only then "Toronto, Canada", since the popularity of the exhibition complex is so great that tourists from the airport come first to Blaure Street, look at the miracle of architecture, and then go to the hotel.

The world-famous collection of the museum consists of six million different exhibits, housed in forty operating galleries and storerooms. The expositions can trace the evolution of the Earth, get acquainted with extinct biological species, as well as with those fauna representatives who are now on the brink of extinction, are listed in the Red Book and need protection.

Prehistoric exhibits

The Royal Ontario Museum is rightly proud of the rarest minerals of the Cretaceous and Jurassic periods, the skeletons of the dinosaur parasaurolof and the barosaurus. Ancient reptiles are collected in a separate exposition. The museum owns the largest collection in the world of Berdzsky schists mined in Yoho, the National Park. The total number of fossils reaches one hundred and fifty thousand copies.

A separate collection includes meteorites that fell to the ground many centuries ago, rare minerals and precious stones. The top of the exposition is the legendary cerussite "Light of the Desert". Next to it is located not less famous meteorite Tagish.

Foreign and national values

The Royal Ontario Museum presents its galleries with collections of fine arts from the Middle East, Asia, the African continent, China and Malaysia.

But the central expositions of the museum are still national in nature and refer to the history of Canada's development and the tectonic past of the land on which the country is located.

Several extensive expositions are devoted to the East as a prehistoric and modern period. Impressive fragments of the masonry of the Chinese temple of the Yuan Dynasty with wall paintings. Figures date from the twelfth century AD. Wooden sculptures of bodhisattvas of the middle of the fourteenth century are also represented here. Separately located ceramic image of "Yuxian" during the reign of the Liao Dynasty (the tenth century AD). In the next room on the podium is an Egyptian sarcophagus with a mummy, brought from Luxor.

Next you can see the bust of Cleopatra Philopator, a statue in full growth of the goddess Sekhmet, the sculpture "The Blue Lady" of the ancient Mumbai artist, the battle armor of Count William Herbert and much more.

In addition to exhibition activities, the museum is engaged in research projects, which relate mainly to historical and architectural research.

Structure

The Ontario Museum begins with a central staircase that connects the lobby with the upper floors. Step flights are a series of glazed windows with exhibits that reflect a particular time interval, from the prehistoric period to our days.

The second floor is given to the possession of dinosaurs, here are the skeletons of giant fossil reptiles.

On the third floor is the art of African countries, South America and East Asia. Hundreds of masks from Nigeria and Ethiopia, Kenyan drums. A special place is occupied by the exposition of the palace arrangement of Chinese mandarins and emperors. The traditions adopted in the houses of the rulers are clearly shown, everywhere there are stuffed Pekingese, favorite doggie rulers, wives with fans, located at a respectful distance from the throne of their master.

The fourth floor is a space dedicated to contemporary art. Here, painting and graphics, sculptures and bas-reliefs. In addition to permanent exhibitions, exhibitions of works by artists are regularly held, which are made in the vernissage style. Visitors can get the picture they like.

On the fifth floor there is a viewing platform with perimeter-mounted stereotubes, with which you can see the panorama of Toronto. Immediately there is a cozy restaurant, in its menu you can meet the most unusual exotic dishes.

Popularity

The Royal Ontario Museum belongs to those wonderful creations of human hands that you do not want to leave. The place is so popular with tourists that people come back again and again to get acquainted with new exhibits, which are constantly replenished with exhibition halls.