Starting this week, famous European museums that meet the requirements for Covid-19 safety will begin to reopen. Accordingly, these museums need to ensure: continuous disinfection of reception areas, limit the number of people according to social distancing rules, recommend visitors to wear masks when visiting and only sell tickets online.
If not affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, normally at this time of year, the world-famous Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Netherlands welcomes 12,000 visitors/day. This year, according to the social distancing rules set by the government, from this week the museum can only welcome a maximum of 2,000 visitors/day. The Van Gogh Museum and the Rembrandt Museum in Amsterdam will also reopen in the first week of June with many similar strict regulations. In addition to museums, some art galleries will also reopen this June.
Despite the many restrictions, the reopening is a welcome sign of a new beginning. Rijksmuseum Director Taco Dibbits said that the pandemic situation is different in each country, but in general, all have their own ways to ensure a safe experience for visitors, and “now is the time to bring the Dutch people back to the museum, which they love so much.”
Similarly, the Sistine Chapel, whose ceiling was painted by Michelangelo in 1508 and is one of Europe's great cultural masterpieces, will also reopen this week. Visitors will have their temperatures checked and must wear masks before entering. The chapel will also only receive about 20% of its previous capacity to comply with social distancing rules, ensuring the safety of visitors. The Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice, Italy, will also reopen to visitors from June.
The Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Bilbao Museum in northern Spain will reopen after being closed since March. Initially, it will only be open from 2 p.m. most days of the week.
Denmark's Louisiana Museum - one of Europe's most beautifully situated modern art galleries - reopened on June 5, primarily to visitors who purchased tickets online in advance.
The Louvre Museum in Paris is scheduled to reopen on July 6, but the glass pyramid in front of the museum has already begun reopening since the first week of June.
However, the governments of the above countries also announced that this decision to reopen is temporary, because at any time when the Covid-19 epidemic peaks again, everything will have to continue to close. However, after a long time of freezing all spiritual entertainment activities, this is good news for European people, especially those who love to explore museums.
