Description of the attraction
National Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongareva is one of the largest and most interesting museums in the country. The museum is located in Wellington at 55 Cable Street and is one of the most popular attractions in the capital.
The history of the museum began, in fact, back in 1865 with the founding of the Colonial Museum in Wellington, the priority of which was the collection of scientific collections, although in the process of forming the collection a number of other exhibits were acquired or donated, including paintings, engravings, antiques etc. In 1907, the museum was renamed the Dominion Museum and officially expanded its scope of activities. In 1936, the museum moved to a new building on Buckle Street, as well as the National Gallery of New Zealand, founded in 1930, and in 1972 the Dominion Museum was renamed the National Museum.
In 1992, the New Zealand Parliament decided to create a unified cultural center, merging the National Museum and the National Art Gallery. The museum was named the National Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongareva (from the Maori language “Te Papa Tongareva” is translated as “the place where the treasures of this land are kept”). A state-of-the-art building was erected especially for the new museum in the heart of Wellington using the latest engineering developments and technologies (during the design, special attention was paid to the strength of the structure due to the high seismic activity in the region). The building was designed by the architectural firm "Jasmax", the project was headed by the famous New Zealand architect Ivan Mersep. The official opening of the museum took place in February 1998.
The collection of the National Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongareva is extensive and varied and includes entertaining exhibitions that perfectly illustrate the history of colonization of New Zealand and the peculiarities of life, life and traditions of the indigenous Maori population, an impressive collection of art and natural history, as well as exhibitions dedicated to Pacific cultures … One of the most famous and impressive museum exhibits, perhaps, is a rather rare specimen of Antarctic giant squid weighing 495 kg and more than 4 meters long, caught by New Zealand fishermen in the Ross Sea off the coast of Antarctica in 2007.
