Founded in 1912, the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) holds a vast and extraordinarily wide-ranging collection drawn from the fields of fine and applied art, the natural sciences, and archaeology. Special highlights include the dinosaur gallery, now on the second floor, and a new Asian Arts gallery, featuring

Chinese sculpture and architecture, and Japanese art and culture. Until early 2007, the ROM is undergoing a major transformation, which includes the restoration of existing galleries and the new Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, a bold chrystalline formation designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, which boasts a new main museum entrance, cutting-edge galleries, and an exhibition hall.

The Green Room This elegant English parlour dates from the1750s. one of several room settings featured in the European galleries, it boasts the original green paneled walls popular among the gentry of the time.

Dinosaur Gallery The most popular gallery in the ROM is moving to the second floor Natural History galleries, with dinosaur skeletons set in simulations of the Jurassic Age and animation techniques as used in the 1990s blockbuster Jurassic Park.

Canada Gallery: First Peoples This spacious gallery celebrates Canadian culture, with a dynamic approach to the country’s aboriginal traditions. Many of the unique and vibrant aboriginal artefacts are displayed for the first time.

Greek head of Zeus Chief of the Gods, Zeus reigns over classical sculptures in the Greek gallery.

Galleries of Africa: Egypt With a large collection of mummies, burial masks, and domestic artifacts, the Egyptian collection contains the remains of a buried court musician, in a painted golden coffin so intricate that scholars dare not open it.

Bat Cave Painstakingly reconstructed from a 4-km (2-mile) long Jamaican bat cave, some 3,000 wax and vinyl bats fly to greet the visitor in this eerie darkened cavern.

Stuffed Albatross This huge bird has a wingspan of 3 m (9 ft). It is a main feature of the bird gallery, which offers interactive exhibits.

Gallery Guide

Due to extensive reconstruction work, parts of the original building are closed to visitors.

The restored Heritage Galleries, including a section of the Canada Gallery, have opened on the first floor. The Natural History and World Cultures galleries on the second and third floors also remain open to the public. The Crystal Galleries will open to visitors during 2006, to house the popular Dinosaur Gallery.

Star Exhibits

. Dinosaur Gallery

. Galleries of Africa: Egypt