The most important Egyptian collection after Cairo
Founded in 1824 by King Charles Felix of Savoy, who bought the collection of the French consul Bernardino Drovetti, the Museo Egizio of Turin is the oldest museum in the world dedicated entirely to ancient Egypt and, according to many, the most important after the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. "The road to Memphis and Thebes passes through Turin", said the French Egyptologist Champollion, who studied its papyri here.
The museum holds about 40,000 objects, of which about 3,000 are on display in a renovated layout over several floors. Among the masterpieces are the statue of Ramesses II, one of the most beautiful portraits of the pharaoh; the Statue Gallery, a spectacular hall of colossal statues of gods and pharaohs lit by dramatic lighting; the intact tomb of Kha and Merit, the architect and his wife, found in 1906 with all its contents, furniture, food, clothes and objects of daily life; the Turin Royal Canon, a papyrus with the list of the kings of Egypt; the Turin Erotic Papyrus and the Papyrus of the Mines, the oldest geological map known; and a small rock temple, the Temple of Ellesiya, donated by Egypt for Italy's help in saving the Nubian monuments. Mummies, sarcophagi and the Book of the Dead complete the visit.
Tip: allow at least three hours and book online to skip the queue; the museum is in the Palazzo dell'Accademia delle Scienze, in the centre.
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