National Museum of Lithuania is the largest depository of the Lithuanian historical heritage, where museum valuables reflecting the cultural history of the country are collected, preserved, studied and popularised on a systematic basis. At the same time it is the oldest museum of Lithuania, with its roots in the Vilnius Museum of Antiquities established in 1855 on the initiative of culture historian Count Eustache Tyszkiewicz. The Museum and the main expositions of the National Museum of Lithuania are located in the historical centre of Vilnius, in the buildings within the territory of Vilnius Castles.