In London, as, indeed, in any other world capital, whose history goes back to the distant past, tourists can get acquainted with a large number of various attractions. The attention of many travelers is attracted by the famous Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Hyde Park and many other places.
But almost everyone who visits this city for the first time wants to get to Madame Tussauds, which is the same symbol of London as Big Ben. The only difference in this attraction from many others lies in the fact that it has a human face, or rather, hundreds of faces. So many figures are currently in Madame Tussauds. Almost 2.5 million visitors come to see these amazing exhibits every year. This impressive figure is a clear recognition of the merits of the founder of the museum, Maria Tussauds, who initiated this business two centuries ago.
In the world there are other exhibitions of wax figures. However, Madame Tussauds stands out from all of them not only with an impressive number of exhibits, but also with its media hype. The appearance of new figures in the expositions is often covered by the media, being considered a kind of recognition of one or another merit of the person.
History of creation
The future founder of the museum, Maria Tussauds, was born in 1761 in Strasbourg (her maiden name is Grosskolts). Soon her family moved to Switzerland. Here, Mary's mother began working as a housekeeper with Dr. Phillip Curtis, who specialized in creating various wax models. He began to teach the girl his skills. Mary turned out to be a capable student. At the age of 16 she became the author of the first wax figure of Voltaire himself. After that, she worked on creating similar copies of Benjamin Franklin and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
Until the age of 30, Maria was a devoted assistant to Phillip Kartis. Together with him, she organized exhibitions and conducted the affairs of a doctor. Kartis appreciated her work. He bequeathed to Mary the entire collection of his works. It passed to her after his death in 1794. With such an extensive collection, Maria traveled all over Europe with temporary exhibitions. In 1795, the girl married, becoming Madame Tussauds.
In 1802, Marie was in England and because of the Napoleonic wars she could not return to her homeland. After a certain period of moving around the UK and Iceland, the future founder of the famous exposition decided to stay with her family in London, where she rented a room on the famous Baker Street. This is the street on which the history of Madame Tussauds began in 1836.
Change of ownership
After the death of Marie in 1850, her work was continued by the children. They were also trained in the art of making wax sculptures. Madame Tussauds first worked on Baker Street until 1883. After that, the grandson of Marie decided to build his own premises. The need for this was caused by a number of factors, among which the small size of the building and increased rents at times. The new building was erected on Marylebone Road, where Madame Tussauds is located today.
The move brought a number of problems to the exhibition owners. The costs turned out to be so great that financial squabbles began between family members. In addition, in 1925 a fire occurred in the museum. He destroyed almost the entire collection. As a result, Madame Tussauds' heirs had to sell their business. Fortunately, the new owner quickly restored the pieces, which made it possible to make preserved forms. Once again Madame Tussauds Museum was damaged in 1940. An air bomb hit it.
The museum was again restored, and its popularity continued to grow. Soon, his exposition became one of the most popular in England, and then around the world.
Where can I see wax figures?
Today in different countries on our planet operates more than 20 branches of this famous museum. The main of its exhibition halls is located in London, in one of the most prestigious areas of the capital of England - Marylebone. There are offices in major US cities such as New York and Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Orlando.
Where is Madame Tussauds in Asia? Its representative offices are located in Bangkok and Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai, Tokyo and Singapore. Lucky in this respect and Europe. Tourists who come here can get acquainted with wax sculptures in Berlin and Barcelona, Vienna and Amsterdam. The popularity of Madame Tussauds allowed her work to be sent to distant Australia. Unfortunately, for 2017 in the CIS countries there are no such exhibitions yet.
Museum Address
The main showroom is located on Marylebourne Road (London, NW1 5LR). Not far from it is Regents Park.
Within walking distance from the museum there is a Baker Street metro station. You can get to this London attraction by bus. Routes such as 274, 139 and 82 go here. It is convenient to get to the wax exhibition and by train.
Buying tickets
Judging by the reviews, Madame Tussauds welcomes her guests in huge queues. It seems that getting to the exhibition halls is simply impossible. However, the line moves quickly: after standing there for about 40 minutes, visitors come to the checkout counter.
Experienced tourists recommend buying tickets to Madame Tussauds online. In this case, those who intend to visit a unique exhibition will be sure that they will be able to visit its exhibits at a certain time, which will allow them to plan their day correctly. In addition, tourists note the fact that the purchase of tickets via the Internet will save up to 25% of their cost, which is quite high. So, at the box office you have to pay 30 pounds (42 dollars) for visiting the museum. Buying a ticket online will cost you 22.5 pounds ($ 31.5).
It should be borne in mind that the museum provides discounts. They are offered when children or the whole family visit the exhibition. When planning a sightseeing trip in London and wanting to visit Madame Tussauds, you should heed the advice of experienced tourists and book a ticket in advance. Judging by the reviews of visitors, in this case they are invited to choose a specific arrival time with a 30-minute interval.
Ticket prices change throughout the day. It is directly dependent on the time of visiting the museum. The most expensive are morning tickets. It’s cheaper to go to the museum after 15 hours, and the most economical option is to visit after 17 hours. In the latter case, the ticket price is 15 pounds ($ 20).
What awaits visitors?
At the entrance to the museum, guests are greeted by its founder, Madame Tussauds. Or rather, not quite her, but her self-portrait figure, made by Marie with her own hand. This work, which opens the museum’s collection, is located in several rooms with different themes. It will take more than one hour to inspect all available exhibits. Judging by the reviews of experienced travelers, someone who is going to come to this amazing museum should charge his camera to the maximum.
In the London exhibition hall, you can see about four hundred wax figures. Most of them are musicians, movie stars, athletes and politicians. Some figures are copies of famous representatives of the past. There are exhibits in the museum that are dedicated to artistic characters. The largest wax figure of this theme is the Hulk, and the smallest is the fairy Tinker Bell.
Some celebrities are represented by their stage images or characters. So, Johnny Depp is portrayed by Captain Jack Sparrow.
Those figures that are in the museum are not always included in the current exhibition. Some of them are initially considered temporary. As a rule, thematic exhibitions are dedicated to the release of popular films on the screen. But there is another reason that wax figures are removed from the exposition over time. It serves as a drop in visitors' interest in them.
Judging by the description of Madame Tussauds, it differs significantly from other similar exhibitions. Here, most of the figures are not forbidden to approach visitors. Also, people are allowed to hug exhibits and take pictures with them. The only exceptions are figures preserved from the time of Marie.
Existing exhibitions on a particular topic by the staff of the London Museum periodically change. However, there are a number of rooms that are permanent.
Royals
All the figures of Madame Tussauds in London are located in the gallery of halls, in each of which there are characters united by one theme. The most honorable place in the main interpositional hall, located in England, is occupied by the members of the royal family who rule the country.
Their figures, like animated pictures coming down from the pages of magazines, are in a room called the World Arena. Among the members of the crowned dynasty, the image of the Duchess of Cambridge recently appeared. This is Kate Middleton, who gently holds the hand of her husband - Prince William. To the left of the young couple is the owner of Buckingham Palace - Elizabeth II. Not far from her is Sir Harry. Here is the magnificent lady Diana.
World leaders
In the second part of the same hall of Madame Tussauds in London, there are exhibits representing the figures of the most important religious and political figures who went down in the history of mankind.
Here you can see Adolf Hitler and Winston Churchill, Nicolas Sarkozy and Indira Gandhi, as well as many other prominent politicians of different times. Entering this room, visitors can take pictures with Barack Abama himself, around whom the atmosphere of the Oval Office of the White House is recreated. To the left of the former US president is Vladimir Putin, always calm.
Entering this hall, each of the visitors gets a unique opportunity to express their opinion to any of the world leaders represented here and shake his hand.
Celebrities
One of the parts of the World Arena exposition is reserved for the stars of the music industry. Here you can take pictures with the idols of millions of people and stand near Justin Timberlake, see Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, as well as Beyoncé. A little away from them is the famous Placido Domingo. There was also an improvised scene in this exposition.
It seems that the great Freddie Mercury continues his work on it. During the tour, tourists can say hello to the Beatles musicians and shake hands with Michael Jackson.
"Night of the premiere"
In this room you can see the prototypes of Hollywood stars. Among them are Jim Carrey, Harrison Ford, as well as the great Arnie (actor Schwarzenegger is represented in the image of the Terminator). There is also Marilyn Monroe, who is in the image created by her in the film "Itching of the Seventh Year." The animation characters were not left without attention in the museum. Here you can stumble upon Spider-Man and Shrek.
A recent museum innovation is the Marvel comic book characters. They featured a 4D show, which includes a 3D movie that lasts 10 minutes and is complemented by moving chairs, spray and wind.
List A Party
There is a hall in Madame Tussauds museum where you can see world celebrities. Here is the figure of the beautiful Jolie and her husband Brad Pitt. Not far from them is the Beckham star family, the figures of Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Pattinson, as well as Jay Law.
"Horror Room"
This is the most creepy room that is located in Madame Tussauds. The horror room includes the most terrible and creepy exhibits, as well as plots of bloody stories. Those visitors who love the thrill seek to visit this room. But it should be borne in mind that people with an unstable psyche, as well as pregnant women and children under 12 years of age, are prohibited from entering this room.
The room contains a complete collection of heads chopped off by the wives of Henry the Eighth. In addition, in the hall are the figures of the most famous killers and maniacs in history, as well as tools that were used in the Middle Ages for torture.
Sensations of horror are intensified by museum staff. Dressed in dark clothes, they suddenly jump out of the darkness, grabbing visitors by the arms. As a rule, all excursions in this room are certainly accompanied by a female screech. For those who want to raise the level of adrenaline in the blood, an opportunity is given for an additional fee to spend in this room all night. They say that there are such people, and there are plenty of them.
What is the attraction of the museum?
All the figures at the exhibition can be called real masterpieces. Each of them is so similar to the original that even in the photo it is difficult to notice a fake. A similar effect is achieved due to the observance by the masters of the exact proportions of the body, body shape and celebrity growth.
The museum provides the most curious visitors with the opportunity to see the process of making wax dolls.
Of course, a person will not receive any new knowledge when visiting a museum. However, for many, the exhibition is not just entertainment with entertaining photographs. Visitors take the chance to look at someone about whom they write a lot, make films and talk. After all, people always have a dream of meeting earthly stars who left their indelible mark on science, culture, sports, politics and art.