Kolkata has been nicknamed the City of Palaces.

This comes from the numerous palatial

mansions built all over the city.

During the British colonial era from 1700–1912, when Kolkata was the capital of British
India, Kolkata witnessed a spate of frenzied construction activity of buildings largely
influenced by the conscious intermingling of Gothic, Baroque, Roman, Oriental and
Islamic schools of design. Unlike many north Indian cities, whose construction stresses
minimalism, the layout of much of the architectural variety in Kolkata owes its origins to
European styles and tastes imported by the British and, to a much lesser extent, the
Portuguese and French.

The buildings were designed and inspired by the tastes of the English gentleman around
and the aspiring Bengali Babu (literally, a nouveau riche Bengali who aspired to
cultivation of English etiquette, manners and custom, as such practices were favourable
to monetary gains from the British).

Today, many of these structures are in various stages of decay. Some of the major
buildings of this period are well maintained and several buildings have been declared as
heritage structures. Conservation efforts are patchy and are often affected by problems of
litigation, tenant troubles, ownership disputes, old tenancy laws and a lack of funds.

Born as Lord Curzon's brainchild as a memorial to the Queen of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India, Queen Victoria after her death in 1902,
the Victoria Memorial was modelled on the Taj Mahal and was commissioned in 1906.
Opened to the public in 1921, it was designed by the architects William Emerson and his
protege Vincent Esch at the extraordinary cost of Rupees 10.5 million ($262,500), all of
which was collected as voluntary donations, mostly from the British and Indian nobility.
The memorial holds numerous paintings of the British royal family, miniature paintings
of the Mughal School, oil paintings of the Company school (notably the uncle - nephew
pair of Thomas Daniell and William Daniell), historical artefacts like the throne of the
Nawab of Bengal, many lithographs and documents of historical interest, and various
post-Raj artefacts significant in the history of Kolkata (added to the collection after
independence). The memorial is set in extensive and beautiful lawns, and is lit up at
night. A laser audio-visual show is held on the lawns every evening. The banshee on the
top of the museum is said to be haunted, and has been prominently featured in many
Kolkata stories and novels. It is regarded with pride and joy in Kolkata and colloquially
referred to as the "Victoria".

The Indian Museum is the largest museum in Asia and the oldest in the Asia - Pacific
region (est. 1814 at the location of the Asiatic Society) . The Museum shifted to its
present sprawling residence in 1875. Situated on Chowringhee Avenue, it houses perhaps
the greatest collection of Indian natural history and an Indian Art collection to rival the
Smithsonian and the British Museum. Of specific note are the meteorite hall and dinosaur
hall in the Natural History and Geology section, the numismatics section and the
collections of Gandhara Art, Burmese woodwork, Mughal miniatures and Tibetan banner
sections in the Indian Art section. The Anthropological Survey of India headquarters and
the Government College of Art and Craft are housed in the same building. The
Geological Survey of India headquarters moved from the museum to Bidhan Nagar
recently. The Indian Museum has a library of excellent historical value, with a special
focus on the Raj and Kolkata

The privately owned Marble Palace

The Marble Palace is a privately owned collection of eclectic sculptures, paintings and a
small menagerie and aviary off Chittaranjan Avenue in North Kolkata. Built by Raja
Rajendra Mullick in 1835, it houses, among other treasures two little-publicized Reubens
and a Joshua Reynolds, not to mention over 50 varieties of marble which grace the
interiors of this mansion.

Birla Industrial and Technological Museum on Gurusaday Dutta Road, was

inaugurated in 1959 as the first popular science museum in Asia. Modelled on the
Deutsches Museum, it has interactive popular science exhibits and a significant collection
of historical industrial holdings in India. Its collection of old gramophones, sound
recorders, telephones, steam engines, road rollers and other industrial machinery of the
period 1880–1950 is very significant. The museum sports a vintage model of the Rolls
Royce Phantom make. It also actively organizes summer camps, awareness programs and
astronomy observations for school children.

Science City is a complex near the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass featuring a lot of
interactive science and live bioscience exhibits, as well as having Kolkata's first
OMNIMAX theatre.

The Jorasanko Thakur Bari is the ancestral home of the Tagore family and was
converted into a museum in 1961. The huge sprawling brick mansions were the cultural
hub of Kolkata for close to a century and was a major force in the women's liberation
movement. It hosted the first Brahmo wedding and was an important center in the
Independence movement. The museum has three large galleries - one of the life and
works of Rabindranath, a second gallery about his close relatives such as father
Debendranath Tagore, Abanindranath Tagore, Gaganendranath Tagore and others, and a
third gallery on the Bengal Renaissance in general.

Gurusaday Museum, on Diamond Harbour Road, is the outcome of a lifetime of

collection of traditional Bengal folk arts in undivided Bengal by Sir Gurusaday Dutt. On
his death in 1941, the collection was handed over to the Bratachari Society founded by
Sir Gurusaday Dutt to preserve and protect Bengal folk arts. It was opened as a museum
to the public with the help of the Government of India in 1963. It contains, among other
fine handicrafts, terracotta panels, kantha or folk quilt work, and patas ( or hand painted
scrolls of the late 1900s), notably of the Kalighat school. The Asutosh Museum of
Indian Art, on College Street, is the other museum specializing in Bengal folk arts, but
with significant archaeological holdings from sites in West Bengal and Bihar like
Chandraketugarh and Tamluk. The first university owned museum in India, it is run by
the University of Calcutta and is named after its famous vice chancellor Sir Asutosh
Mukherjee.

Jawahar Shishu Bhavan is named after Jawaharlal Nehru, whose love for children was
well known. The museum has a collection of dolls and toys from across the globe, and
has a doll - based retelling of the Indian epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. Established in
1972 close to the Victoria Memorial, and commonly referred to as "Nehru Children's
Museum", this museum is aging awkwardly fast.

Sabarna Sangrahashala located at Baro Bari, Barisha, Kolkata 700008, is the only
family museum of Kolkata which is open to public. It was established in 2005 by the
Sabarna Roy Choudhury Paribar Parishad and already has become a great tourist
destination specially for those who want to know more about the history of Kolkata. It is
also a research institute in the making. The Museum possesses some of the rarest
Kabulatipatras, documents and articles of historical importance. The museum is
dedicated to students for creating an awareness in history and culture.Sabarna Prithivi

Kolkata also has some other small museums like the Maritime Museum, and the Police
Museum.

National Library of India located in Alipore is India's leading library and a public
library. It was inaugurated in 1836 by the Governor General Lord Meltcalfe by
transferring 4675 books from the College of Fort William. Public donations were the
main source of books for the library, and by donations of Rupees 300 from proprietors.
Dwarakanath Tagore was the first proprietor of the library. The library was initially only
partially public, as poor students could use the library for a limited period of time. The
Imperial Library was founded in 1891 by merging several libraries like those of the East
India College and East India Board. Governor General Lord Curzon initiated the merger
of these two libraries into a single Imperial Library in 1903 at the Metcalfe Hall. The
goals of the library were to collect every book written about India at any time. The
Assistant Librarian of the British Museum John Macfarlane was the first librarian and
was succeeded by the first Indian librarian Harinath De. The library was moved to its
present quarters in Belvedere Estate, Alipore and renamed the National Library. It is a
fully public library which co-ordinates the activities of all other Indian public libraries.
True to its goal, any book published in India today has to send one copy to the National
Library, Kolkata in the spirit of the Library of Congress, United States.

The other popular Kolkata libraries include the Ramakrishna Mission Library,
maintained by the Ramakrishna Mission, Kolkata which has a special children's section,
as well as the large consulate-based libraries of British Council, Kolkata and of the
United States Information Service, Kolkata. The Calcutta Club library has a historically
significant collection, including the fully furnished and book-stocked reading room of
Nirad C. Chaudhuri. The other historically significant libraries are those of Asiatic
Society, Indian Museum, Presidency College, Scottish Church College, and St. Xavier's
College, Calcutta.
• High Court
• Bankshall Court
• Raj Bhavan or Government House, Kolkata, built in the early 19th century, is
modelled on Kedleston Hall. The House was once the seat of the Viceroys of
India; later, when the Government moved to New Delhi, it became the residence
of the Governor of Bengal, a function that it fulfills to this day. While the basic
features of Kedleston have been faithfully copied (the Palladian Front, the Dome
etc.), Government House is a much larger, three storeyed structure. Also, the
Government of India evidently did not have the funding constraints that forced the
Curzons to leave their house incomplete: Government House has all four wings
originally conceived for Kedleston. So today, a 'complete', brick built Kedleston,
on a much grander scale, is located in its acres of gardens at the heart of the
Kolkata business district.
• Town Hall