The Hermitage

The State Hermitage Museum occupies six magnificent buildings of the Winter Palace located in the centre of St Petersburg. The Hermitage houses the richest collections with more than 3,000,000 pieces of art which show world cultures and art from the Stone Age to the 20th century.

Current exhibitions include
In Honour of St Petersburg’s Founder
Aleksandr Menshikov The First Governor of St. Petersburg
Nicolas de Stael: Paintings from Museums and Private Collections of Western Europe, United States and Russia
Russian Foreign Ministry. Petersburg Epoch 1802-1917. Bicentenary of the Ministry’s Creation
Pranidhi: Wall Painting from Bezeklik Monastery
The Treasure Gallery
The 19th - 20th centuries French painting
and others
Ticket Prices: 300 roubles - for foreigners
Charge for Museum Photography - 100 roubles
Charge for Museum Videotaping - 250 roubles
Tour Reservation Phone: (812)311-84-46

The State Russian Museum

The State Russian Museum is the world’s largest museum of Russian art. It is located in the center of Saint-Petersburg, on the central street called Nevsky Prospekt. The museum is located in the former Mikhailovsky Palace, a stunning monument of Russian architecture. From the very first days of the Russian Museum, Mikhailvosky Palace was the main building of the museum. It was showcasing the latest and the best pieces of Russian art.
The collection of the Russian Museum contains about 400,000 works and covers the history of Russian fine art from the X century to the present day. It reflects virtually every form and genre of art in Russia, including a unique collection of Old Russian icons, paintings, graphic art and sculpture, decorative and applied art, folk art and numismatics etc.
Address: Russia, 191011, St.-Petersburg, Inzhenernaya str., 2.
Metro stations: "Gostyny Dvor", "Nevsky Prospect".
Open daily except Tuesdays
10 a.m. - 5 p. m
(10 a.m. - 4 p.m. - on Monday)

Mikhailovsky Palace

In 1797 - 1800 the architects V. Brenna and V. Bazhenov built the Mikhaylovsky Palace. This is a square shaped building with an inner yard surrounded by rivers and moats on all sides like a medieval castle. Emperor Pavel I was always in terror of a plot, so he ordered the palace with many passages, levels, and rooms to make his life safer. On November 1, 1800 the Palace became the official residence of the Emperor’s family, however after his assassination by the plotters the Emperor’s family came back to the Winter Palace.

Alexander Column

The Alexander Column, designed by Auguste de Montferrand, was erected in 1834 to commemorate Russia’s victory in the Patriotic War of 1812 against Napoleon. It is located at the Palace Square near the famous Tsar residence called the Winter palace. The complex of the Palace Square combines two contrasting architectural styles - Baroque and Classicism.

The Bronze Horseman

The monument to Peter the First on the Senate Square was erected in the XVIII century by Italian sculptor Falcone. The head of the Peter the Great statue was carved by Maria Anne Callo. The monument was unveiled on the 7th of August 1782. The Bronze Horseman Peter the First was the hero of well-known poem of Alexander Pushkin.
There is an inscription on the pedestal in Russian and in Latin: "To Peter the First from Catherine the Second". The words were composed by Empress Catherine the Second.

Saint-Isaac’s Cathedral

The Cathedral is 101 meters high. The area of the Cathedral is 3250 square meters. Inside the building visitors can see many beautiful pieces of art, including sculptures, frescoes, icons and mosaics dated XVIII-XIX centuries. The altar is decorated with a stained-glass picture called the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. After the Cathedral was built, it was considered the main Cathedral of Russian Empire.
Saint-Isaac’s Cathedral was built in the place of St-Isaac’s church in Saint-Petersburg in 1858 by the architect August Montferrand. As the Cathedral is very big, it was very difficult to build it. Many people worked on the construction site during the 40 years of it’s construction. In 1928, following a new government order, the Cathedral was closed to become a museum.

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan

The second important cathedral in Saint-Peterburg is the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan built in 1811 by the Russian architect Voronikhin. The facade has the 100 meter long colonnade of 92 columns facing Nevsky street. In the middle of the colonnade there is a portico with six columns. The same porticos are at the southern and western facades. The dome of the Cathedral is 62 meters high. The Cathedral has the most precious icon of the Our Lady of Kazan city that had given the Cathedral it’s name as well as many other beautiful pieces of art of the High Classicism.
The Cathedral was closed in 1929 and after that the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism moved in. It has come to be a Cathedral of St-Petersburg in 1999.

Yusupov Palace

On a quiet stretch of the Moika River stands a long yellow building, which once was a residence of the wealthy and respected Yusupov family and saw the murder of Grigory Rasputin.
As excellent tour-guides will lead you through the beautiful interiors, you will see the story of Rasputin’s murder.
The exhibition is open only for tour groups. English-language tours are available by prior arrangement (tel. 314 9883). Tours should be booked in advance.
Address: 190000, Naberezhnaya Reki Moyki 94
Telephone: 314 9883

Church of Saviour on the Blood

The official title of the church is Resurrection of Christ Church (a.k.a. Church of Our Saviour on the Spilled Blood). This marvelous Russian church was built on the spot where Emperor Alexander II was assassinated in March 1881. The church was built in 1883-1907. It was built mostly on donations by the royal family and thousands of private donors. Both inside and outside, the church is decorated with unique mosaics by the most well-known Russian artists like Vasnetsov, Vrubel and others. It suffered greatly during the Soviet times and was reopened in late August, 1997 after almost 30 years of restoration.
Location: Naberezhnaia kanala Griboyedova.

Pushkin Museum

The first stone was laid in the foundation of the Museum on August 17, 1898. The Museum has been created on the basis of the Museum of Fine Arts and Antiquities of the Moscow University as an educational and public institution where the most important periods of art history from the ancient times to the New Age had been represented: in plaster casts, maquettes, pictorial and galvanic copies, in accordance with the unique scientific program. Now the Pushkin Museum has a variety of collections including paintings, sculptures etc.
The Museum opens daily except Monday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Entrance fee: 60 - 190 rubles depending on the category of visitors.
Telephone: 203-79-98, 203-95-78
Excursion Bureau: 203-74-12
URL: http://www/museum.ru/gmii/
Postal address: 121019, Moscow, 12 Volkhonka str.
E-mail: Finearts@gmii.museum.ru

Evgeniya Stroganova