The Museum of Belize, formerly Her Majesty’s Prison
I Love the Musem. It's Fabulous. Their Bug Room is incomparable. Do yourself a favor and visit when you are in Belize City. The building is formerly the old Belize Prison
The Museum occupies the structure built by the British as a prison in 1857 with bricks, called “London Stocks,” brought from England and used as ballast on ships. The Institution was called “Her Majesty’s Prison” (HMP). Each window in the building marked where there was a cell originally built for one man. In 1885, additional cells were built, converting the Warden’s Quarters and a portion of the lower stores into 71 male and 6 female cells, including four solitary confinement units. In 1888-89, part of the upper story became the gallows or hanging room, the site of all executions until 1993.
In 1998, the Belize Government handed over the Old Prison to NICH and the Museum of Belize. For the next two years the old prison building was fully refurbished with the financial assistance from both Mexico and Taiwan. On February 5th, 2002, the Museum of Belize was officially declared open.
Among the features of the Museum:
- A cool collection of photographs and data about the history of Belize, focusing primarily on Belize City.
- Display about Baron Bliss, a sailor who fell in love with Belize and became the greatest philanthropist of Belize, which includes his will.
- A huge stamp collection reflecting on Belize’s colonial history
- An impressive coin collection
- A display about the devastating 1961 Hurricane Hattie
- Display and history about the Logwood and Mahogany industry
- Collection of bottles of Belize that include medicinal, ink and alcoholic beverage bottles dating back to the 1670’s
- Insects of Belize
- Maya Civilization – including a replica of the famous Jade Head, information on major Maya archaeological sites, display of artifacts, pottery, obsidian and jewelry.
HERE is a great article on the museum in the Ambergris Today.
For more information on the museum:
http://www.museumofbelize.org
For their Facebook page, click here!
Contact:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +501 223-4524
Opening Hours: Tue-Sun: 8:00a.m. to 5:00p.m.
Address: 8 Gabourel Lane, Central Bank Compound, Belize City
Museum of Belize