Leiden, Key to Discoveries

What are the most important discoveries from our Dutch scientific history? Which researchers are behind this and how much impact do their discoveries have on our lives today? Discover more about their inventions and think about the big questions of today.

Meet the oldest inhabitants of the Near East and the Netherlands. Het Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (National Museum of Antiquities) is a unique museum. Discover everything about mummies, admire the mighty emperors and walk around a real Egyptian temple.

See, do and experience: in the new Naturalis, young and old will immerse themselves in the wonderful world called nature. Take the whole family on a voyage of discovery in nine brand-new exhibition rooms, full of nature's most beautiful things. Also meet our T. rex Trix!

The city's illustrious past is highlighted in seven collection presentations, including The Cradle of the Golden Age, Leiden University City, The Siege and Relief of Leiden and Seven Centuries of Leids Laken.

Museum Volkenkunde has been collecting the world's cultural heritage since 1837: art treasures that are thousands of years old, statues of Incas and Aztecs, Chinese paintings and African bronzes. But also everyday utensils such as clothes, weapons, eating utensils and children's toys of people for whom survival was the only goal, make the collection special.