Natural History Museum Vienna

The Naturhistorisches Museum on Maria-Theresien-Platz in Vienna is among the world's largest natural-history museums, holding some 30 million collection items. The neo-Renaissance palace was built between 1871 and 1889 to plans by Gottfried Semper and Carl von Hasenauer as the west wing of the never-completed Kaiserforum; directly opposite stands its architectural twin, the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Its most famous object is the roughly 29,500-year-old Venus of Willendorf, an 11-centimetre limestone figurine found in Lower Austria in 1908 and now displayed in its own room. Highlights also include the skeleton of the last Steller's sea cow and a full Diplodocus cast. A small rooftop observatory is open to the public, and the cafe under the dome has the city's best view of the Hofburg.