A historical legacy reflected in manuals and catalogs full, situated in large capital alone already worth a visit and, in particular, the wealth of impressive art collections that house, whether sculpture, painting and antiques, are more than enough reasons to escape and witnessed, in situ, the works that are stacked in the top ten galleries of the Old Continent.

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But the traveler, entranced with such beauty, you should avoid getting the Stendhal syndrome, psychosomatic illness that elevates the heart rate and causes hallucinations when exposed to an overdose of artistic beauty especially if these ten museums are crossed in a complete flip and thematic tour.

Spain, England, France and Italy are the countries that concentrate more gallery of the best quality. As a whole, one of the most important level is the Louvre in Paris. His amazing collection ranges from classical and Egyptian antiquities to the best of European painting. In one place the visitor has the opportunity to revel in the enigmatic smile of the Mona Lisa, the solemnity of the Victory of Samothrace and the classicism of the Venus de Milo.

Without leaving the city of love, the Orsay museum, housed in a former railway station, houses the biggest collection of Impressionist paintings and nineteenth-century French around the world with masterpieces by artists such as Delacroix and Monet. Also in Paris, but with another kind of art, this modern and contemporary highlights Georges Pompidou, housed in a spectacular building striking forms.

In northwestern Europe, in England, and specifically in London, the British Museum and luster category competes in the Louvre. Perhaps the quality of its collection of antiquities is larger because it extends from prehistory to the Middle Ages. The Greek Parthenon Marbles plundered are the main tourist attraction. In Trafalgar Square, in front of the colossal statue of Admiral Nelson stands the considered by many the most important museums in the world.

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The National Gallery houses a wonderful collection of European painting from the thirteenth to the twentieth centuries and masterpieces as The Rokeby Venus by Velazquez. For its part, The Tate Modern, also in the British capital, has the collection of modern and contemporary art’s largest continent, with works by artists such as Bacon, Lichstentein or Pollock.

Spain boasts in one cultural tour of the capital, Madrid, three renowned museums rub shoulders with Europe’s elite: the Prado, with the wonderful work Las Meninas, Reina Sofia and Thyssen. Another city with a remarkable quality of art galleries is Amsterdam, the Rijksmuseum or the museum dedicated to the great Van Gogh. The Hermitage, St. Petersburg (Russia) is the largest galleries around the world. Not for nothing more than three million works form a vast collection ranging from prehistoric to Impressionism.

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Deserve a chapter of the Vatican Museums and confessional small Italian state. Its spacious rooms welcome the immense collections of art that has the Catholic Church, with some of the most outstanding works such as Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel or The School of Athens by Raphael. In Florence, another city that shows art in every corner, travelers should not miss the opportunity to visit the Uffizi Gallery. Among the best works of Italian painting you can see real gems such as The Birth of Venus by Botticelli.

Are not reason enough to travel around Europe?