Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (National Museum of Antiquities), Leiden (must see)

Situated by the Rapenburg, the most beautiful canal in Leiden is a historical mansion townhouse and an old almshouse. Together, they are the National Museum of Antiquities and the national center for archeology. The museum is one of the five oldest museums in the Netherlands.

The museum has a collection of more than 150,000 artifacts in five presentations of Rome, Egypt, Greece, Asia Minor, and the early Low Countries. The reception area is the 2000-year-old Temple of Taffeh, commissioned by the Roman Emperor Augustus. It was transported stone by stone to the museum lobby.

The museum has two rooms for rent for meetings and events; the Trojans Room and the Leemans Room. The rooms have a capacity of up to 400 visitors. The Leemans Room is next to the Temple Room. It can hold up to 70 people and it has a grand piano.

The museum features a world-class collection of Egyptian mummies and sarcophagi. The five different presentations have replicas, reconstructions, films, and media. The museum has the most extensive collection of Dutch archeological objects. They cover the history of the Netherlands from pre-historic times to the late Middle Ages.

The National Museum of Antiquities was founded by King William I in 1818. It is open six days a week from 10 am to 5 pm. It is closed on Mondays.