New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, known informally as the Met, is one of the world’s preeminent museums. Perhaps no other art museum in the world commands more recognition, except the Louvre in Paris. The Met is located on Museum Mile, a stretch of Fifth Avenue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side that is home to eight museums – of which the Met is the biggest. This mecca for art lovers is so famous, only three letters are needed to make an introduction.
The Met was founded in 1870. Its encyclopedic collection includes art from every part of the world, from classical antiquities to modern art, musical instruments, weaponry, clothing and even an Egyptian temple, the Temple of Dendur, which was dismantled by Egypt in 1965 and given to the US. The Met is also famous for hosting the Costume Institute Gala, better known as the Met Gala, on the first Monday of May. The gala is organised by Vogue magazine and draws celebrities from many professions.