Victoria Memorial

Curzon proposed the memorial after Victoria's death in 1901 and it was completed in 1921, built in white Makrana marble, the same quarry as the Taj Mahal, in a design mixing classical and Mughal elements with a central dome and a bronze Angel of Victory that turns on ball bearings in the wind. It stands in fifty-seven acres of gardens on the Maidan. Inside, twenty-five galleries hold Company-period painting, Daniell aquatints, arms, manuscripts and material on Kolkata's history, so the building now functions as a museum of the empire it was built to commemorate. The dome is lit in the evening and a sound and light show runs.

What you actually see

• The marble hall - Makrana marble under a central dome.
• The turning angel - a bronze figure on ball bearings above the dome.
• The galleries - Company painting, aquatints, arms and Kolkata history.
• The gardens - fifty-seven acres on the Maidan around the building.

When to go

October to March; Kolkata summers are hot and humid. The museum closes on Mondays. Evenings show the building lit, with a sound and light programme in season.

Honest expectations

Photography is prohibited inside the galleries. Gardens and museum charge separately. Queues at weekends are long, and the galleries are dated in presentation.

Nearby

The Maidan surrounds it; St Paul's Cathedral is adjacent.