The Canterbury Museum is a museum located in the central city of Christchurch, New Zealand, in the city's Cultural Precinct. The museum was established in 1867 with Julius von Haast – whose collection formed its core – as its first director. The building is registered as a "Historic Place – Category I " by Heritage New Zealand.

Learn about the natural history of Canterbury, the people who have made their homes here and our connection to Antarctica.

The Māori galleries display treasures and tools from our region’s first people. The Christchurch Street and Victorian Museum recreate the nineteenth-century city. At the world-famous kiwiana icon, Fred & Myrtle’s Pāua Shell House see more than 1,000 pāua shells, the most you’ll find in any one place. Learn about the heroic explorers of the icy continent and see objects from the Museum’s internationally significant Antarctic collection.