Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

- Edwardian Tea Rooms, Victoria Square, Chamberlain Square

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is a majestic art museum, situated in an imposing building between Victoria Square and Chamberlain Square, in the heart of the city centre. The museum was constructed 1881-85 and the extension in 1908, and features elements from a mix of architectural styles; Edwardian, Victorian, Baroque, Renaissance and Neo-Classic. It features more then 500 000 objects in 40 galleries. Works by famous painters as Picasso, Turner, Edward Burne-Jones, William Holman Hunt, Frederick Sandys and Boticelli can be found inside the museum. The emphasis lies on the English school and the Italian school, with the large collection from the Pre-Raphaelites. In the Round Room you find Jacob Epstein's sculpture Archangel Lucifer.

The beautiful Industrial Gallery with its staircases and stained glass exhibition is the original part of the museum. On the upper floor there is a large special collection about Birmingham's people and history. Here you find belongings, posters, sculptures, furniture, vehicles and architectural models.

There is an Egyptian collection of ancient belongings like death masks and coffins, an Iraqi collection, a classical Greek collection, Roman and Latina American rooms and an atrium with a frieze from the Parthenon. The largest complete coppar Buddha sculpture in the world can also be found in the museum.

The Edwardian Tea Rooms is a large, very beautiful tea room, where I tried classic English tea, British style.

With almost one million visitors annually Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is one of the most visited museums in the UK. And best of all: the entrance is free!