WELCOME to the new-look Yorkshire Museum. The beautiful, 1830 building has been utterly transformed, thanks to a £2 million makeover.

Gone are the dark, dingy rooms and the cluttered exhibitions. The museum has been stripped back to the way its designers intended. Everywhere is light and space – daylight pouring through skylights and the large windows which were for so long hidden, to light up the spectacular objects on display inside.

That’s the thing about the Yorkshire Museum. It has always had a collection second to none – treasures without parallel from the Roman, Saxon, Viking and medieval periods, and scientific wonders too, such as dinosaur footprints from the Yorkshire coast and complete skeletons of giant, prehistoric marine reptiles.

Now these treasures are on display in a setting that does them justice.

The main hall has been transformed into a temple to the classical world of which Roman York was a part.

A lifesize statue of the Roman god Mars greets you. Stone seats surround a giant floor map of the Roman world. On the far wall, characters from a computer-generated representation of Roman York tell you about their city.

Off to the left are more Roman galleries, including a recreation of a Roman room, using authentic mosaics found in York.

And downstairs are the medieval galleries. Windows have been opened up looking over the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey. And some of York’s finest treasures – the York helmet, the Middleham Jewel, the recently discovered Viking hoard – are displayed in a setting that does them proud.

“This refurbishment has once again transformed the Yorkshire Museum into one of the country’s greatest museums,” said head curator Andrew Morrison.

And so it has. After a special day tomorrow for York residents with tickets, the museum opens officially at noon on Sunday: Yorkshire Day.

Do go along. You won’t recognise it. It will blow you away.