{{Infobox museum | name = Sexmuseum Amsterdam | native_name = Venustempel | native_name_lang = nl | logo = Sexmuseum Amsterdam Logo.png | logo_upright = | logo_alt = | logo_caption = | image = Sex Museum in Amsterdam 1.jpg | image_upright = 0.75 | alt = | caption = Museum entrance in 2014 | map_type = <!-- Netherlands Amsterdam --> | map_relief = | map_size = | map_caption = | coordinates = <!-- {{Coord}} --> | former_name = | established = 1985<!-- {{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}} --> | dissolved = <!-- {{End date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}} --> | location = [[Amsterdam]], [[Netherlands]] | type = [[Sex museum]] | accreditation = | key_holdings = | collections = | collection_size = | visitors = 675,000 (2015)<ref name="visitors">[https://www.ois.amsterdam.nl/pdf/2016_kerncijfers.pdf Kerncijfers Amsterdam 2016] (in Dutch), [[Municipality of Amsterdam]], 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2017.</ref> | founder = | director = | president = | ceo = | chairperson = | curator = | architect = | historian = | owner = | public_transit = | parking = | network = | website = {{URL|http://www.sexmuseumamsterdam.nl/|sexmuseumamsterdam.nl}} | embedded = }}
The '''Sexmuseum''' or the '''Temple of Venus''' ([[Dutch language|Dutch]]: ''Venustempel'') is a [[sex museum]] located in [[Amsterdam]], [[Netherlands]]. The museum was opened in 1985. It had 675,000 visitors in 2015, making it one of the [[List of most visited museums in the Netherlands|most visited museums in the Netherlands]].<ref name="visitors"/>
== Background == The museum is the world's first and oldest museum of sex, however since, a number of other sex museum's have opened, such as those in [[Berlin]] ([[Beate Uhse Erotic Museum]]), Paris ([[Museum of Eroticism]]), and Copenhagen ([[Museum Erotica]]).<ref name="sexmuseum">{{cite web |title=Sexmuseum Amsterdam – Ontdek de Venustempel van Amsterdam |url=https://sexmuseumamsterdam.nl |website=Sexmuseum |access-date=2 May 2025 |language=nl-NL}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Over het museum – Sexmuseum Amsterdam |url=https://sexmuseumamsterdam.nl/informatie/over-het-museum/ |website=Sexmuseum |access-date=2 May 2025 |language=nl-NL}}</ref> Prior to this, sex themed collections existed in larger museums, such as the [[British Museum]], although these were not accessible to the public.<ref>{{cite web |title=How Amsterdam got the world’s first sex museum. |url=https://getmaude.com/blogs/themaudern/how-amsterdam-got-the-world-s-first-sex-museum?srsltid=AfmBOoqL6VpV5OJzqKI0b8wj6n606FZjtnHfTlMXRpBm7iW-zvxgaGoK |website=maude |access-date=2 May 2025 |language=en}}</ref>
The museum is located in a 17th-century building in [[Damrak]], a street in the centre of Amsterdam, close the [[Amsterdam Centraal]] station.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=Sex Museum in Amsterdam {{!}} Amsterdam.info |url=https://www.amsterdam.info/museums/sex-museum/ |website=www.amsterdam.info |access-date=2 May 2025 |language=en}}</ref> The museum's various rooms are named after famous figures, such as [[Mata Hari]], [[Oscar Wilde]], [[Marquis de Sade]], [[Rudolf Valentino]], and [[Marquise de Pompadour]].<ref name=":0" /> Children under 16 are not permitted to enter the museum.<ref>{{cite web |title=FAQ – Sexmuseum Amsterdam |url=https://sexmuseumamsterdam.nl/faq/ |website=Sexmuseum |access-date=2 May 2025 |language=nl-NL}}</ref>
The museum features an extensive collection of pictures, recordings, photos, paintings and artifacts which allow visitors to explore the evolution of human sexuality throughout the ages. Exhibits present the history of sex and how it has evolved over the centuries. From [[Cleopatra]]'s regiment of men, to the Romans’ insatiable appetite for sex, to the repressive Middle Ages, visitors are presented with how sex was viewed throughout historical civilizations.<ref name="sexmuseum" />
==See also== *[[List of sex museums]]
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [http://www.sexmuseumamsterdam.nl/ Sexmuseum Amsterdam], official website * {{Commons category-inline|Sexmuseum Amsterdam}} {{Sex museums}} {{Coord|52.3765923|4.8972585|display=title}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:1985 establishments in the Netherlands]] [[Category:Museums established in 1985]] [[Category:Museums in Amsterdam]] [[Category:Sex museums]] [[Category:20th-century architecture in the Netherlands]]