The project has taken 20 years, after delays caused by the Arab Spring and Coronavirus (Image: Getty)
A museum in Egypt that cost £775 million to build will be the world’s largest when it opens. The Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo has been under construction for 20 years and is finally set to open its doors this July.
Currently in a “soft-opening period”, lucky members of the public have been able to get a sneak peek into a site that will be 1.5 times bigger than the British Museum and twice the size of the Louvre. Board Trustee of the Institute of Contemporary Art Emily Sheffield was one of the lucky few to explore the museum and believes that it shows the improvements needed at Britain’s cultural sites. She said: “It shows what our museums here must step up to.
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I was fortunate to get an early peak at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo this weekend: when it opens this July it will be the biggest museum on earth - 1.5 x the size of the British Museum; 2 x the Louvre. £1 billion and 20 years to build, overlooking the pyramids. 100,000… pic.twitter.com/Rhcz0EqndP
— Emily Sheffield (@emilysheffield) March 31, 2025
“It puts our British Museum to shame and that is something we should care about, given what is stored there.”
The spectacular venue overlooks Egypt’s famous pyramids is intended to showcase the vast history of the area and boost tourism numbers across the country.
The museum expects to welcome five million visitors each year, equating to roughly 15,000 a day.
Currently, the existing Egyptian museum in the city sees only a third of that number pass through.
After laying the first stone for construction in 2002, the project has been met with several delays after originally intending to open in 2018 and 2019.
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The museum will showcase thousands of artefacts from 4,000 years of history (Image: Getty)
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After opening in July, the museum expects to welcome 5 million visitors each year (Image: Getty)
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The Arab Spring and the Coronavirus pandemic all contributed to an extended build, but museum organisers remain confident that they will meet their July target for a public opening.
The museum is set host to more than 100,000 artifacts. For the first time ever, King Tut’s entire treasure collection will be on display alongside artifacts from pre-historic times through Egypt’s many thousands of years of pharaonic civilization through the more modern ancient Greek and Roman periods of Egyptian history.
A magnificent 3,200-year-old statue of Ramses II, which had previously stood in Ramses Square in the city, is already in place.
The 83-ton statue started to deteriorate due to the city’s pollution levels, prompting city officials to move the statue into storage in 2006. However, in July, it will stand proudly in the new venue as part of an impressive collection.
