Perhaps more than anything else, Dublin is a city known for its history. Founded more than 1,000 years ago in 988, the city has been witness to almost every event in Western civilization to one degree or another. With that comes a rich cultural heritage that is second to no other city in Europe.

The largest collections of art can be found in the National Museum and National Gallery and Irish Museum of Modern Art, but the city also boasts many fine small private collections. The range of art and artifacts is enormous, and visitors can spend days viewing the various collections.

Aside from the art museums, there are many other collections devoted to the city’s history and its architecture. The Bank of Ireland Arts Centre is one of the most striking of Dublin's 18th century structures. Built in 1729 to house the Irish Parliament, it also is where the parliament voted itself out of existence when the British took full control in 1800.

Dublin Castle

Dublin Castle, where Irish presidents are inaugurated, houses the Chester Beatty Library, one of the city’s many fine libraries. The Chester Beatty Library houses a varied collection of manuscripts, prints, icons, miniature paintings, early printed books, and art objects from countries across the world.

National Wax Museum

A little more offbeat is the National Wax Museum. The museum is filled with full size, realistic wax figures of some of the most important people in Irish life past and present. These include former leaders, pop stars, politicians, actors, and writers.

Dublin’s museums include one devoted to writers and another to the writer James Joyce alone. There are also smaller museums, including the National Print Museum, the Dublin Civic Museum, and the National Museum of Archaeology and History.

Phoenix Park

Aside from the indoor cultural attractions, north of the river and west of the city center is Phoenix Park, which is nearly 2,000 acres in size. It includes a zoo and a racetrack and is renowned as the second largest enclosed park in the world, second only to Yellowstone National Park in the United States.