St. Petersburg is not without reason referred to by local residents as the gorod muzei or "city museum." The former capital of a vast and glorious empire which reached from the Barents Sea to the Silk Road and Central Europe to the Pacific Ocean, St. Petersburg is brimming with history, and fortunately for us this history is well preserved in the city's more than 50 museums. Whether you want to immerse yourself in the world-renowned Hermitage Museum's more than 1000 rooms which collectively house one of the world's greatest collections of Western European Art or visit the widely acclaimed Russian Ethnographic Museum's truly rich exhibit of the life and culture of the over 100 peoples of Russia, you are sure to be impressed and wanting to come back for more.
Academy of Fine Arts Museum
Many prominent Russian artists graduated from the Russian Academy of Fine Arts and the Repin Institute. The museum's exhibitions, displayed in the former building of the Academy, feature graduation and study projects completed by students of the Academy, a number of works by the Academy's teaching staff and various paintings related to the history of the Academy. Although this is hardly the most impressive art collection in town, you will still find some excellent pieces and gain an interesting insight into St. Petersburg's artistic education of the past. The museum also features temporary exhibitions of works by prominent local artists in the Titian Hall and the annual art exhibition of the Academy, which is now based in Moscow.
After entering the building through the main entrance, go upstairs and buy your entrance ticket from the small booth.
Address: Universitetskaya Naberezhnaya 17
Metro: Gostiny Dvor, then trolleybus 10 towards the beginning of Nevsky Prospekt
Open: Wednesday to Sunday, 11am to 7pm
Closed: Monday and Tuesday
Telephone: +7 (812) 213-6496; +7 (812) 213-3578
The Applied Art Museum Of St. Petersburg's Artistic-Industrial Academy
This is one of St. Petersburg's best-kept secrets! Located only a block away from the Mikhailovsky Castle and the Field of Mars, the Applied Art Museum is little known and rarely included in tourist itineraries. Yet the museum, which was established to provide education and stimuli to future generations of Russian artists and designers, is a real treasure for anyone interested in the fine arts and antiques. Its collection of over 30 thousand exhibits includes various decorative arts and crafts, including furniture, porcelain, chandeliers, tiled stoves, artistic metalwork, bass relieves and carvings.
The museum was established in 1878 as a part of the Baron Schtieglitz School of Technical Drawing, which in the 20th century evolved into the Artistic Industrial Academy.
The museum's building is a masterpiece in its own right and was built in eclectic style by the architect Maximilian Mesmacher, specifically to house the museum's collection. The building's huge Grand Hall, incorporating an impressive glass roof, recently underwent an extensive program of restoration. Some of the museum's elegant smaller halls, including the Antique, Medieval and Ancient Russian rooms are definitely worth a look even if you don't plan on staying to browse through the museum's main collections.
Finding the museum tucked away on the premises of the Academy can be quite a challenge! Visitors need to take the main entrance into the Academy, located at Solyanoy Pereulok 13, then go up the grand staircase, turn right, walk along the corridor and take the first narrow staircase on your left down to the next floor. The museum's entrance is on the lower landing of the staircase and the ticket counter is just on the left as you walk in. As with most Russian museums, all visitors are asked to leave coats and larger bags in the cloakroom. Don't be surprised to see dozens of students throughout the museum and the Academy, busy sketching the museum's exhibits as well as the magnificent building in which they are housed.
Location: Solyanoy Pereulok 13-15
Metro: Chernyshevskaya
Telephone: +7 (812) 273-3258
Open: Daily, 11am to 5pm
Arctic and Antarctic Museum
The dramatic story of Russian and Soviet polar exploration unfolds before visitors to this museum. From the first days of polar navigation in the Russian Far North to the modern-day research stations in Antarctica, the breathtaking achievements of scientists and travelers are covered in great detail and illustrated with authentic artifacts. The 'Chelyuskin' rescue operation, which hit the headlines in 1934, forms the emotional centerpiece to the collection. Among other things the museum exhibits the original small plane, which was kept on board the 'Chelyuskin' and was later used (along with several others) to carry the crew of the unfortunate ship to safety on the mainland. The museum also details the history of the Russian expedition to Antarctica by Bellinzgausen and Lazarev between 1819 and 1821 and the story of Russian Antarctic research.
The museum is currently located in a former church building not far from Nevsky Prospekt and the city center.
Address: Ulitsa Marata 24-a
Metro: Vladimirskaya
Telephone: +7 (812) 311-2549
Open: Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm (last admission 4:35pm)
Closed: Monday, Tuesday and the last Saturday of the month
Museum Artillery, Engineering and Communications Forces
Displaying an enormous collection of arms and heavy artillery from the Middle Ages to the present day, this museum is located just across a narrow canal from the Peter and Paul Fortress. The museum is a great place to visit with your kids, who will love the open-air exhibition of artillery and missile launchers in the museum's courtyard. Inside the museum displays a rather old-fashioned collection of military memorabilia, temporary exhibitions, a nice little shop stocked with models of weapons and miniature soldiers and a cafe.
How to get there? Take the metro to Gorkovskaya Station, turn right and walk through the park towards the Peter and Paul Fortress. When you reach the canal turn right and the museum is just a little further on your right-hand side.
Address: Aleksandrovsky Park 7
Metro: Gorkovskaya
Telephone/Fax: +7 (812) 238-4704
Telephone: +7 (812) 233-0382
Open: Wednesday to Sunday, 11am to 6pm
Closed: Tuesday
Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace
Home to the city's Municipal Cultural Center, the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace used to serve as the Communist Party's district headquarters, but now organizes a rich and varied program of concerts throughout the year. Tickets to all concerts include a tour of the palace's splendid interiors, which have been beautifully preserved.
Visitors to the palace can also enjoy its Exhibition of Wax Figures - "Russia and Power", featuring lifelike models of many of the country's most notorious rulers.
Address: Nevsky Prospekt 41
Metro: Nevsky Prospekt/Gostiny Dvor
Telephone: +7 (812) 312-3644
Fax: +7 (812) 311-1750
Open: Daily 12noon to 6pm
Central Railway Museum
This is undoubtedly the country's best museum concerned with railways and charts the complete development of railways in Russia and the former USSR, from the very first Russian steam locomotive, built by the father and son Cherepanov team, to the modern railways and engines of today. The museum boasts some incredibly detailed models, most notably one of a cargo station with railway cars going up and down a hill.
The Railway Museum also owns a collection of old locomotives and cars, which is displayed at a separate location, just outside St. Petersburg (from the Vitebsk Railway Station take a local train to Parovozny Muzei).
Address: 190068, Sadovaya Ulitsa 50
Metro: Sennaya Ploschad/Sadovaya
Telephone: +7 (812) 315-1476
Open: Sunday to Thursday, 11am to 5:30pm
Closed: Friday, Saturday and the last Thursday of the month
The Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood
This marvelous Russian-style church was built on the spot where Emperor Alexander II was assassinated on March 1 1881. Constructed between 1883 and 1907, the church was designed in the spirit of sixteenth- and seventeenth century Russian architecture, inspired particularly by St Basil's Cathedral on Red Square in Moscow.
The interior of the church, a memorial to the late Emperor Alexander II, was decorated with different shades of marble and several thousand square yards of mosaic.
After the October Revolution of 1917 the church met the sad fate the vast majority of the country's churches and was closed for services in the late 1920s. It served briefly as the venue for an exhibition of revolutionary propaganda and gradually fell into decay. It was suggested many times that the church be torn down, for being an "inappropriate" symbol of Christianity in the midst of a newly and largely atheistic country. It is a miracle that the church survived this period. In 1970 Our Savior was brought under the management of St Isaac’s Cathedral, who instituted a program of restoration that lasted an incredible 25 years.
Today, the church's onion domes have been newly gilded and its interiors painstakingly restored to their former glory and the church is open to the public.
This has to be one of the city's most beautiful sights and a great spot for taking pictures. There are also lots of souvenir stalls nearby.
Admission:
Unfortunately, the museum administration keeps admission fees extremely high to help fund further restoration of the church.
An additional charge is made for those taking cameras or camcorders into the church.
Foreign visitors should buy their tickets NOT from the ticket booth outside, but from the administrator inside the church.
Address: Naberezhnaya Kanala Griboyedova 2
Metro: Nevsky Prospekt/Gostiny Dvor
Telephone: +7 (812) 314-40-53
The Cottage Palace in Peterhof / Petrodvorets
The carefully preserved mid-nineteenth century Cottage Palace is one of the former residences of Emperor Nicholas I, Russian ruler between 1825 and 1855. For Nicholas and the royal family the cottage served as a safe haven and a refuge from tiring court life in the nearby sumptuous palaces and parks of Peterhof. Only the family's closest courtiers were invited here, and the Emperor spent his free time watching ships sailing by on the Baltic Sea and drinking tea on an open verandah.
In a great public relations move Nicholas regularly invited peasants to watch him and his family during tea parties. Of course, the peasants were more than flattered and spread the word how human and family-oriented their monarch was. Yet, in reality Nicholas' reign was a time of political oppression and economic backwardness, resulting in Russia's humiliating defeat in the Crimean War.
Address: 198903, Petrodvorets
Telephone: +7 (812) 427-7146
Cruiser Aurora
Travel back in time by stepping on board the memorial ship Aurora, which played an important role in the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. The cruiser Aurora was built between 1897 and 1900 by the "New Admiralty" in St. Petersburg and joined Russia's Baltic fleet in 1903. The ship measures 126.8 meters (418 feet 5 inches) in length, 16.8 meters (55 feet 5 inches) in width and weighs a staggering 7,600 tons. Maintaining a speed of 20 knots (23.3 miles per hour) it can travel independently for up to 1,440 sea miles.
During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 the cruiser took part in the Battle of Tsusima. Amongst the ship's exhibits visitors can see a portrait of the ship's captain, who was killed during the battle. The crew used part of the Aurora's penetrated armor to frame Captain Yegoryev's photograph.
In 1917, as the main training ship of the Baltic fleet, the Aurora took an active part in the Revolution. On the night of October 25-26 1917, it fired a blank shot at the Winter Palace (then the residence of the Provisional Government), giving the signal to the rebellious workers, soldiers and sailors of the city to storm the palace. That moment triggered a dramatic episode in Russia's history and was the start of over 70 years of Communist leadership.
The Aurora is now maintained by cadets from the nearby Nakhimov Navy School. Admission to the Aurora is free, but for an extra fee you can tour the engine-room (ask an attendant).
Off Petrovskaya Naberezhnaya, opposite the Nakhimov Navy School
Metro: Gorkovskaya
Open: 10:30am to 4pm
Closed: Monday and Friday
Admission: Free
Dostoyevsky Memorial Museum
The memorial apartment of one of Russia's most renowned and prolific writers is conveniently located just one block away from Vladimirskaya metro station. Dostoyevsky lived here, his last apartment in St. Petersburg, between 1878 and 1881 and the flat is still filled with memorabilia relating to his life and work. Dostoyevsky based many of his stories and novels in St. Petersburg, especially in the Vladimirsky region of the city where his apartment is located. In celebration of his literary genius, the city erected a monument to the great writer in the spring of 1997, not far from Vladimirskaya metro station and from the Dostoevsky Memorial Museum.
The museum also hosts occasional exhibitions of contemporary art.
How to get there? Take the metro to Vladimirskaya Station, exit the station and turn right, and then walk for one block and you'll find the museum on the corner of the building on your right.
Address: 191002, Kuznechny Pereulok 5/2
Metro: Vladimirskaya / Dostoyevskaya
Telephone: +7 (812) 311-4031, +7 (812) 169-6950
Open: Tuesday to Sunday, 11am to 6pm
Closed: Monday and the last Wednesday of the month
The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia
The Hermitage Museum is Russia's best gallery of world art, one of the most prominent art museums in the world and definitely the main tourist attraction of St. Petersburg. The museum was founded in 1764 when Catherine the Great purchased a collection of 255 paintings from the German city of Berlin. Today, the Hermitage boasts over 2.7 million exhibits and displays a diverse range of art and artifacts from all over the world and from throughout history (from Ancient Egypt to the early 20th century Europe). The Hermitage's collections include works by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian, a unique collection of Rembrandts and Rubens, many French Impressionist works by Renoir, Cezanne, Manet, Monet and Pissarro, numerous canvasses by Van Gogh, Matisse, Gaugin and several sculptures by Rodin. The collection is both enormous and diverse and is an essential stop for all those interested in art and history.
The main building of the Hermitage Museum is the Winter Palace, which was once the main residence of the Russian Tsars. Magnificently located on the bank of the Neva River, this green-and-white three-storey palace is a marvel of Baroque architecture and boasts 1,786 doors, 1,945 windows and 1,057 elegantly and lavishly decorated halls and rooms, many of which are open to the public. The Baroque Winter Palace was built between 1754 and 1762 and its first resident was none other than the celebrated Catherine the Great. Many of the palace's impressive interiors were remodeled after the huge fire that partly destroyed the building in 1837. Some of the best Russian and most famous foreign architects worked exhaustively to ensure that this Imperial residence was one of the finest and most luxurious palaces in the world.
The Hermitage's collections are displayed in adjoining buildings along the Neva embankment, together form an enormous museum complex: the Winter Palace, the Small Hermitage, the Old Hermitage and lastly the New Hermitage. The Hermitage Theater, the private theater of the Tsars, is a beautifully decorated amphitheater and still hosts regular lectures, concerts, opera and ballet performances.
The experts say that if you were to spend a minute looking at each exhibit on display in the Hermitage, you would need 11 years before you'd seen them all. We suggest you opt for a guided tour instead!
Address: 191065, Dvortsovaya Naberezhnaya 34
Metro: Nevsky Prospekt/Gostiny Dvor
Telephone: +7 (812) 311-3465, +7 (812) 219-8625
Fax: +7 (812) 311-90-09
Open: Tuesday to Saturday 10:30am to 6pm
Sundays and national holidays 10:30am to 5pm
Ticket offices close one hour before the museum closes
N.B.! The Hermitage is closed on Mondays
Icebreaker "Krasin"
This historic ship, moored off the southern bank of Vasilyevsky Island, is one of the more recent additions to St. Petersburg's museum scene. Despite its age, the "Krasin" is still in good working order and eminently seaworthy, but after undergoing extensive restoration work it has now become a floating museum.
Designed by the famous Russian seaman, Admiral Stepan O. Makarov and built in 1916 in Britain, the ship was originally named after the Russian mythological warrior - "Svyatogor". Renamed "Krasin" during the Soviet era, the powerful icebreaker took part in the rescue operation to save the Italian polar expedition led by Umberto Nobile. During WWII the "Krasin" led Allied convoys, which brought strategic supplies, arms and ammunition to the Soviet Union. The convoys fought their way to the northern Soviet seaports, despite heavy Nazi bombardment and the constant threat of submarine attacks. Many Allied ships and cargo vessels failed to reach their destination, but the "Krasin" was lucky enough to survive. After the war the historic icebreaker took an active part in research expeditions in the Polar Ocean and led Soviet cargo convoys through the polar region. Rather than being destroyed (like the famous icebreaker "Yermak") to make way for more modern ships, the "Krasin" was preserved and restored, thanks to the tremendous dedication of its captain and crew and of volunteers and naval history enthusiasts.
The museum displays some of the ship's equipment and details its participation in various rescue operations, convoys and research expeditions.
Location: Naberezhnaya Leitenanta Shmidta 22
Metro: Vasileostrovskaya
Telephone: +7 (812) 324-9448
Open: Tuesday to Sunday, 10 m to 5 pm
Closed: Mondays
The Marble Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia
The Marble Palace, tucked away between the vast Field of Mars (Marsovo Pole) and the mighty Neva River, boasts some formidable architecture and an interesting history. Thirty-two different types of marble were used to decorate the building's facades and interiors, hence its name. In the last few years the palace has seen a major transformation and has become part of the Russian Museum and home to its excellent collection of Modern and Pop Art. At about the same time the Bolshevik armored car that had stood in the palace's courtyard for years, was replaced with a sturdy equestrian statue of Emperor Alexander III.
The palace features several very diverse collections.
Visitors to the Marble Palace can enjoy the museum's very popular permanent collection of Modern and Pop Art, featuring paintings, graphics and sculpture and a couple of well-known canvasses by Pop Art idol Andy Warhol.
Another regular feature of the Marble Palace is the " Peter Ludwig Museum at The Russian Museum". This collection of 20th century art originated as a gift from the famous European art collector Peter Ludwig. If you like modern art - this is the place to go.
Those who love traditional European art will certainly enjoy the exhibition "Foreign Artists in Russia (the 18th and the 19th centuries)". Numerous foreign artists flocked to Russia and were greeted with enthusiasm by the Imperial court and encouraged to settle here. This exhibition displays some interesting canvasses painted by foreigners, many with Russian themes and a fascination for Russian history and folklore.
Address: Milionnaya Ulitsa 5/1
Metro: Nevsky Prospekt
Telephone: +7 (812) 312-91-96
Open: The Marble Palace is open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 6pm (last admission at 5pm). Monday, 10am to 5pm (last admission at 4pm)
Closed: On Tuesdays
The Mikhailovsky (St. Michael's) Castle
The Mikhailovsky Castle - now a branch of the Russian Museum - is one of the most mysterious buildings in St. Petersburg. The history of the castle, built between 1797 and1800 for Russia's most enigmatic monarch, Emperor Paul I, is full of unusual and dramatic events. In the early 1990s the castle became a branch of the Russian Museum and now houses its Portrait Gallery, featuring official portraits of the Russian Emperors and Empresses and various dignitaries and celebrities from the late 17th to the early 20th century. The castle also houses an array of semi-permanent and temporary exhibitions - see current exhibition listings.
The Mikhailovsky Castle was built by the Italian architect Vincenzo Brenna between 1797 and 1800 as a residence for the Emperor Paul I. Due to Paul's interest in Medieval knights and his constant fear of assassination, the palace was built like a castle and was surrounded by ditches and draw-bridges. Ironically, Paul I was assassinated in his own bedroom on March 12 1801, shortly after he moved into his newly built castle. After Paul's death the Mikhailovsky Castle was abandoned and in 1819 was given to the army's Main Engineering School (later to become the Nikolayevskaya Enginering Academy). Since then the building has often been referred to as the Engineers' Castle. Between 1838 and 1843 Fyodor Dostoyevsky studied as a cadet at the Main Engineering School, before choosing a career in writing.
In Soviet times the Mikhailovsky Castle was split between several organizations, both military and civilian, until the early 1990s, when it was given over entirely to the Russian Museum. Although a program of restoration of the castle's octagonal courtyard is still underway, the castle is open as usual and continues to host an interesting array of artistic exhibitions.
How to get there? From Gostiny Dvor metro station cross Nevsky Prospekt via the underpass, then walk North along Sadovaya Ulitsa for two blocks and you'll find the castle on your right in a small garden.
Address: Sadovaya Ulitsa 2
Metro: Gostiny Dvor
Telephone: +7 (812) 210-41-73
Open: Wednesday to Monday, 10am to 6pm
Closed: Tuesdays
Monument To The Heroic Defenders Of Leningrad
This impressive monument is the focal point of Ploschad Pobedy (Victory Square) and is hard to miss on the main road from St. Petersburg's international airport.
The monument, built in the shape of a huge broken ring represents all the efforts it took to break the 900-day Siege of Leningrad. The inside of the ring is lit with gas torches and its walls feature engravings celebrating the incredible courage shown by the defenders of Leningrad. Inside the monument, in a vast underground memorial hall, there is an exhibition devoted to the Siege. An English-speaking guide is usually available, so just ask a member of the museum's staff. Make sure that you see the map of Leningrad's defenses and the museum's short documentary film, and take a look at the beautiful mosaics on the eastern and western walls of the hall.
The external wall of the monument is decorated with a freeze of sculptures representing the soldiers, sailors and civilians who did not surrender to the Nazis despite hunger, cold and the dangers of constant enemy bombardment.
Where? Ploschad Pobedy (Victory Square)
Metro: Moskovskaya
Telephone: +7 (812) 293-6563
Open: Thursday to Monday, 10am to 6pm, Tuesday, 10am to 5pm
Closed: Wednesday and the last Tuesday of each month
Admission: Free
How to get there? From Moskovskaya metro station walk one block South, then enter the monument via the underpass, which is located near the two tall buildings.
» Museum ang Galleries Page 2
