Moscow, the capital of Russia, is famous for its museums, many of which are considered the most important museums in the country as they accommodate the most precious and rare pieces of art. This article tells you about the most popular and well-known museums of Moscow. Here, we will also give some reference information about the museums including telephone, address and URL, which might be of use to those who need specific information about a particular museum.

Museums of the Moscow Kremlin

You can find many famous museums in Moscow Kremlin. Kremlin and surrounding Red Square are the main Moscow sights and symbols of Russia. The Kremlin is the oldest part of the city. Many Russian Tsars lived and worked in it. The word “Kremlin” came from Greek language. It means “a steep hill”.

Now the Moscow Kremlin accommodates many museums which are united into a museum complex established in 1991 called “The Kremlin Museums”. Within the Kremlin walls the tourists can visit the Armory, Blagoveshensky, Arkhangelsky and Uspensky cloisters as well as many permanent and temporary exhibitions. The majority of the exhibits refer to the period of XV to XX century.
In the collections of the Kremlin museums there is a great variety of beautiful exhibits: carved stone, archaeological findings, canvases, icons and frescoes, Russian, Oriental and Western European firearms, coaches and ceremonial carriages, Oriental carpets, books, porcelain, silver and gold jewelry.
The exposition area of the museum of the Moscow Kremlin is 4714 square meters, and the annual number of the visitors is about 1 670 700 people. Apart from the museums, the complex accommodates a scientific library, archive, expert commission and restoration workshops.

Below you can find a list of the unique collections of the museums —

Ancient Russian Iconography
Carriages
Coronation Robes
Front Horse Harness
Precious Cloths, Face and Ornamental Embroidery
Russian Silver
State Regalia
Weapons and Armor
West-European Silver

The main excursions are the following —

The Armory
Blagoveshensky Cathedral — the Private Church of Moscow Governors
The First Walk in the Kremlin
Icons in the Moscow Kremlin
In the Kremlin you may choose some of the excursions. The main excursions are as follows —
Kremlin–City
Kremlin in Middle Ages — Building Programmes of Moscow Governors
The Language of Ancient Writing
The Russian House — Ancient Traditions, Customs and Ceremonies
Russian Middle-Age Church
A Talk with the Ancient Fortress
Secrets of Borovitsky Hill
Uspensky Cathedral — The Main Church in Russia
What Russian and Foreign Craftsmen Built in Kremlin

Museums of Moscow Kremlin are located on the territory of the Moscow Kremlin on the Red Square. The closest underground stations are “Biblioteka imeni Lenina” (Lenin’s Library), “Aleksandrovsky Sad” (Alexander’s Garden), “Arbatskaya”.
Open daily except Thursday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Booking offices open daily except Thursday 9.30 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Tickets are available in the booking offices in the Alexandorsky garden (the park on the Red Square), Kutafia tower, in the Armory and Sobornaya Square
URL: www.kreml.ru, www.museum.ru/M287
e-mail: m287@mail.museum.ru, dream@kremlin.museum.ru
Entrance fees for the foreigners: 200 rubles for adults, 100 rubles for students.

The Armory Museum

The Armory Museum was founded in 1511 by the Prince Vasily III as a court workshop for the production and repair of ceremonial armour, firearms and other weapons. In the 17th century the workers of the Armory designed icons and practiced other kinds of artistic techniques. In the 17th century, British, German and Czech masters were invited to serve the Tsar in the Kremlin workshops to enrich the skills of Russian masters and bring in new artistic forms. It was then that the Silver and Gold Workshops were established. Both of them later became part of the Armory.
The Armory was gradually evolving into the country centre of artistic production, although it had been captured several times and the invaders each time took the biggest portion of the most precious things. Now the Armory accommodates the beautiful ancient state regalia, the tsar’s coronation and archbishops’ robes, gold and silver jewelry, armors and carriages. The precious masterpieces featuring beautiful details and designs are important milestones of Russian history and culture.
Open daily except Thursday
Visitors are allowed in at 10 a.m., 12 a.m., 2.30 p.m., 4.30 p.m.
Entrance fees for the foreigners: 350 rubles for adults, 175 rubles for students

Uspensky cathedral

For centuries Uspensky cathedral built in 1475-1479 by the Italian architect Aristotel Fiorovanti has been the main church of Russian state. It was the place where the coronation of the Russian tsars and important events of the Russian Orthodox church were held. The design of the cathedral combines the Russian architectural tradition and subtle details of the early Italian Renaissance. The big iconostasis, paintings, precious icons, the famous place where Ivan the Terrible offered up his prayers and the unique necropolis are the main things to see in the Uspensky cathedral.
Phone: 007 095 921 47 20

Arkhangelsky cathedral

Arkhangelsky cathedral is a Moscow Tsars family burial place. The famous Princes and Tsars — Ivan Kalita, Dmitry Donskoy, Ivan III, Ivan the Terrible, Dmitry, Mikhail and Alexei Romanov rest in peace in the Arkhangelsky cathedral. There are 47 headstones and 2 shrines. The iconostasis and ancient paintings can also be found in the cathedral.
It was build in 1505-1508 by the Italian architect Alevis the New. At that time, people were fascinated with the building which had a very unusual design — new form of archs and special types of decoration. It greatly influenced Moscow architecture.

Blagoveshensky cathedral

Blagoveshensky cathedral was a private church of the Moscow tsars. Built in 1484-1489 by the group of architects from Pskov city, it remains one of the most beautiful white-stone buildings in Moscow. It is the most ancient building of the early Moscow period. Ancient iconostasis and monumental paintings of the time of Ivan the Terrible have the greatest historical value. Some icons are considered to be painted by the Theophanes the Greek, and some were painted by Andrei Rubliov, the great Middle Age Russian artist.

The Tretyakov Gallery

The Tretyakov Gallery was founded at 1856 by Pavel Tretyakov, the young Moscow merchant. During all his life he collected Russian paintings of the most well-known painters from Moscow and St Petersburg. Tretyakov wanted the pictures that reflected different stages of the career of the famous Russian artists. Painters Ivan Kramskoi and Ilya Repin often took part in selection of pictures for the collection. Later on, Tretyakov started collecting the pictures of the contemporary unknown artists. Thanks to him we now know many names that could have remained unknown. The collector’s brother, Sergei Tretyakov, contributed to the collection not only Russian, but also French and Dutch painters’ pictures. The collection of Pavel and Sergei Tretyakov was opened to the public in I874 as a private museum and rapidly became very popular. In 1892 Pavel Tretyakov presented his collection to the city of Moscow. Pavel Tretyakov remained the life-long Curator of the Gallery till his death in 1898.
In 1917 the collection numbered 4,060 items. On June 3, 1918 following Lenin’s instructions, the Gallery was nationalized. Starting from the thirties, the Gallery began to incorporate pictures and sculptures of Soviet artists. As a result the number of exhibits increased more than ten-fold. Today the annual number of visitors is 1,700,000. The Tretyakov Gallery collection accommodates about 47,000 exhibits.
The collection of the Tretyakov Gallery now consists of different exhibits. Ancient icons dated to the X century, ancient Greek, Roman, medieval and Renaissance masterpieces, pictures of Russian painters Vasily Vereshchagin, Victor Vasnetsov, Valentin Serov, Ivan Nikitin and others. The collection contains many works by members of the Society for Circulating Art Exhibitions (The Peredvizhniki).
Open daily except Monday 10 a.m. – 7.30 p.m.
Booking offices work 10 a.m. – 6.30 p.m.
Address: Moscow, Lavrushinsky str., building 10. Closest underground stations – Tretiakovskaya, Novokuznetskaya.
Telephone: 007 095 951 1362, 007 095 238 1378
URL: www.museum.ru/M281
E-mail: m281@mail.museum.ru, www.tretyakov.ru
Entrance fee for foreign citizens: 150 rubles for adults, 75 rubles for students, 10 to 25 rubles for foreign citizens working in Russia.

The Andrei Rubliov Museum of Early Russian Art

Early Russian art first became a subject for collectors interest in the middle of 19th century. Special attention was paid to the Russian icons. In Russia the icons were used not only in the churches, but in every house as well. Rich and poor had icons and prayed to God. In the beginning of 1870s, a new restoration technique was opened which allowed the restoration of the oldest icons that had the paint covered by the layer of dirt and oil. After the October Revolution private collections as well as the most important icons from the churches and monasteries were nationalized. In 1947 a decision was made to establish a new museum to accommodate all these icons. The new museum was founded on the territory of the abolished St Andronicus Monastery of the Saviour, where the great icon monk painter Andrei Rubliov lived. The museum was given the name of Andrei Rubliov.
Now in the museum of Andrei Rubliov one can see many XIV - XIX century icons brought from private collections, museums, churches closed in Soviet times, as well as the copies of the old frescoes and early Russian wooden sculptures.
Open daily except Wednesday 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Underground: Ploshchad Ilyicha
Address: Andronevskaya Square, building 10
Telephone: 007 095 278 5055
URL: http://redsun.cs.msu.su/moscow/rublev/rublev.html

State Historical Museum

The State Historical Museum was founded in 1872 and opened on May 27, 1883. Now it has about 4496006 exhibits and the main exposition area of about 4960 m2. The collections of the State Historical Museum includes masterpieces of all historical epochs brought by scientists from all over Russia as well as those presented by the owners of private collections. In this museum, one can find the collection of the manuscripts, coins, old printed books, armory and firearms, scientific devices, textile, glass, folk Russian dress and furniture.
Main excursions:
Guests of the Historical Museum
Following Ancient Cultures
Relics of the Russian State
Address: Moscow, Red Square,1/2
Telephone: 007 095 292 40 19, 007 095 292 37 31
URL: www.museum.ru/M414
E-mail: m414@mail.museum.ru, shm@shm.ru
Entrance fee for foreign citizens: 150 rubles for adults, 75 rubles for students, 10 to 25 rubles for foreign citizens working in Russia.

Historical Museum in Kolomenskoye

The eighth wonder of the world — this is how the wooden Palace of Tsar Alexey Romanov that does not exist anymore used to be called. The only thing that remain now of this palace is the white-stone basement found in Kolomensloye village. In the 1920s, the small state museum based in Kolomenskoye was transformed into "Kolomenskoye" State Art Historical and Architectural Museum.
Kolomenskoye is situated on the two banks of the Moskva River. There are many old trees and beautiful alleys and gardens there.
Among the most interesting expositions and places to visit in Kolomenskoye are the Pavillion 1825 exhibition which takes visitors to the non-existing wooden palace of the Tsar Alexei, the Church of the Ascension, built as a palace church in 1532, the earliest and the most significant of Kolomenskoye’s buildings, the Church of the Icon of the God Mother of Kazan Church built in 1644-1670, Front and Spassky Gates, the circular two-tier bell-tower of St.George built next to the Church of the Ascension by an unknown architect in the first half of the 16th century.
Address: Andropov Prospect, 89, Kolomenskaya underground station
Telephone: 007 095 112 21 79, 007 095 115-23-09

The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts

The Museum of Fine Arts which was established as an education centre of the Moscow University gained the status of a national museum in 1923. In the early 1920’s the museum owned a substantial collection of paintings which included Dutch, Flemish and French paintings. Later it gained the collections of the French romantic and Italian paintings. In 1937, in honour of the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, the museum got the name of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. Apart from the foreign painters of the Renaissance, the museum houses some modern collections of Russian and Soviet artists. In the museum you can also find collections of Russian and Soviet bank notes, coins and medals and Egyptian antiquities.
Open daily except Monday 10 a.m. — 6 p.m
Telephone: 007 095 203 79 98, 007 095 203 95 78
To arrange an excursion, call 007 095 203 74 12
URL: http://www/museum.ru/gmii/
E-mail: Finearts@gmii.museum.ru
Entrance fee: 60 to 190 rubles depending on the category of visitors

Museum of Private Collections

This museum is the department of the Pushkin Museum at the Russian State Humanities University
Open Wednesday through Sunday 12p.m. – 6 p.m.
Telephone reference: 007 095 203 15 46
Telephone reference: 007 095 250 61 97
Entrance fee: 20 to 40 rubles depending on the categories of visitors

Evgeniya Stroganova