Naturalis
2995609
225974590
2008-07-16T07:55:51Z
195.86.126.148
removed redundant info, "second most expensive building" fact-tagged.
'''The National Natural History Museum''', or '''Naturalis''', is the national [[natural history museum]] for the [[Netherlands]], based in [[Leiden]]. It originated from the merger of the [[Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie]] (abbreviated RMNH) and the [[Rijksmuseum van Geologie en Mineralogie]] (abbreviated RGM) in [[1984]]. In [[1986]] it was decided that the museum had to become a public museum and a new building was built. The new building cost about 60 million [[euro]], making it the second most expensive museum building in the Netherlands.{{fact}}
[http://www.naturalis.nl/asp/ Official Website]
The museum is open from Tuesday through Friday from 10am to 5pm and on Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 6pm. On Monday it is closed. The entry fee is €4,50 for people aged 4 to 17 and €8,00 for people aged 18 and above.
==Collection==
The current museum is known for the numerous objects in its collections. It has approximately 10 million [[zoological]] and [[geological]] specimens.
* 5,250,000 [[insect]]s
* 2,290,000 other [[invertebrate]]s
* 1,000,000 [[vertebrate]]s
* 1,160,000 [[fossil]]s
* 440,000 [[Rock (geology)|rocks]] and [[mineral]]s
* 2,000 [[gemstone]]s
* 10,000 objects in an [[education]]al collection
The collections are stored in a 60-meter-high tower, a landmark in Leiden, opened in April [[1998]].
==Exhibitions==
Besides its temporary exhibition the museums has several permanent exhibitions:
* Nature Theater (Animals, plants, fungi, one-celled organisms, bacteria, stones, and minerals: an impression of nature in all its various forms.)
* Primeval Parade (A parade of fossils shows the history of the earth and the development of life.)
* Earth (Games and signs inform the visitor about the Earth's complexities.)
* Life (It displays how plants and animals live and survive on earth. )
* Earth Inside (For children and their parents to discover in a playful way how nature works.)
* Biotechnology (Games and movies show the visitor how essential DNA is to all life processes.)
* Treasure Chamber (Special security and storage conditions protect the precious gemstones, including a collection that once belonged to the [[William I of the Netherlands|Dutch King William I]], and the mounted skins of [[Extinct animals|animals that became extinct]] over the past few hundred years.)
==External links==
* [http://www.naturalis.nl Naturalis website]
* [http://www.naturalis.nl/300pearls 300 Pearls — Museum highlights of natural diversity]
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[[Category:Museums established in 1984]]
[[Category:1998 architecture]]
[[Category:Natural history museums]]
[[Category:National museums of the Netherlands]]
[[Category:Museums in Leiden]]
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