By Michael Smallet
Welcome to the first and oldest museum of sex in the world, the “Temple of Venus” in Amsterdam. This is one of the leading museums in the area of sensual love with a huge collection of erotic pictures, paintings, objects, photos and even sexual shows. All exhibits are personally collected by the owners and are exhibited in their 17th century building on Damrake. Temple of Venus first opened its doors in 1985. It was a hard time, because the initial collection was only limited to a small collection of erotic objects from the 19th century displayed in several windows. At that time, nobody was sure whether the idea would attract people. The reaction of the first visitors, however, was so enthusiastic that the owners decided to expand the collection: the audience and the public were fascinated by the newly emerged museum. Now their success seems quite understandable. Before the opening of the Temple of Venus in Amsterdam, you could find a museum devoted to almost any imaginable topic, but the historical and artistic aspects of sex and sexual relations remained in the dark, even depsite the fact that the topic is so intriguing to almost everyone. It is very likely that ‘the most natural topic in the world’ is at the same ‘the most historic topic’ in the world as the history of cultural dimensions of sex relations goes back to the very first days of the humanity.
Art of love, for centuries, took a thousand and one form and it is what the Museum of Sex in Amsterdam wants to show us. Due to continuous growth of the collection at one moment it became necessary to expand the premises of the museum. By will of fate, during one of the first renovation exercises, between the foundations the workers found two erotic objects: a fragment of Delft porcelain tile depicting a man with erection playing cards, and a small antique bronze figurine of Hermes. It turned out that this latter figurine was brought from the Mediterranean by a Dutch merchant almost a hundred years ago. Wasn’t this finding an omen of the following success of the Museum of Sex in Amsterdam? Anyway, over half a million people come to visit the Temple of Venus every year making it one of the most visited museums in Amsterdam. In recent years, many other museums of sex have opened, including those in Berlin, Copenhagen and Paris, but it seems that none have a success comparable to the Temple of Venus. The collection is exhibited in the two back parts and one front part of the museum building, as well as the specially designed staircase connecting the premises. It is am exciting maze of rooms and corridors where the visitors enjoy a breathtaking spectacle.
The large and interesting exhibition in the museum shows the diversity and fascinating history of eroticism, a unique place that every tourist should consider visiting while in Amsterdam. It is located conveniently, nearby major Amsterdam hotels, and can be reached either by foot or using the city public transport system.
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