The Russian Museum, a treasury of Russian art, occupies one of the finest buildings in the center of Saint-Petersburg – a palace formerly belonging to Grand Duke Michail. Owing to architectural genius of Carlo Rossi, in the 1820 – 30s an Empire style ensemble appeared in the center of the capital of Russia: a palace, a square and a street linked with the name of Emperor Paul I’s youngest son Grand Duke Michail. The construction works on the palace started in 1819 near St. Michael’s castle, on the spot of buildings in the garden next to it, in accordance with Alexander I’s order. This all suggested an opportunity of having a private garden and being close to Winter and Anichkov palaces as well as Nevsky Avenue.
The project of Benois wing was executed by the architects L.Benois and S.Ovsyannikov in 1910-1912. Originally the building was purposed for different exhibitions of different art unions. It was founded 27 June 1914, but the war which had burst out stopped the construction works for a while, so the building was completed only in 1919. Benois wing was transferred under the jurisdiction of the Russian Museum in early 1930s.
Stroganov palace to-be must have been put up in the 1720s, when one-storey chambers, belonging either to one of the Stroganovs or possibly the whole family, were constructed by Green Bridge across the Moika River. In 1742 baron Sergey Stroganov bought an incomplete two-storeyed house on the same site. Afterwards, all the buildings were rearranged into one palace complex by an architect Francesco Rastrelli in 1753-1754. The Stroganoff dynasty used to own it until 1918.
The St. Michael’s Castle is a great architectural monument and the culmination in the history of St Petersburg architecture of the XVIII century. It was erected on the site of the Summer Palace of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna (architect Rastrelli, 1740s), which was dismantled by order of Emperor Pavel I after the death of his mother — Catherine II. The original idea of the castle belonged to Pavel himself and the first sketches were made by him. The construction of his future residence started in 1784. During the construction, which took almost 12 years, the Grand Duke referred to various architectural monuments that he had seen on his trip abroad in
The Marble Palace, a unique monument of 18th-century architecture, is situated on the Palace Embankment of the Neva River in the historical center of St Petersburg. It was designed by Italian architect Antonio Rinaldi (1709–1794) in 1768–1785. The palace was commissioned by Empress Catherine the Great as a present for General-Feldzeugmeister Count Grigory Orlov (1734–1783).
Summer garden is the apple of Peter I’s eye, a gem in the necklace of Saint-Petersburg parks. In 1704 Peter I ordered to set up for him a big garden alike the famous European ones of the time and even sketched its original plan. Russian and foreign architects worked on this project: I.Matveev, D.Trezini, J.-B.Le Blond, A.Sсhluter, М.Zemtsov, F.-B.Rastrelli, landscape designers J.Roosen, I.Surmin, К.Schreder, I.Yakovlev, P.Lukianov and other. Already several years after its foundation Summer garden became the political and state life center, the spot of court ceremonies and festivals.
Peter I’s Summer Palace in St Petersburg was built in 1710-1712 by architect Domenico Trezzini. Facades and interiors were decorated by architects and sculptors from Western Europe – A. Schluter, G.-I. Mattarnovi, and J.-B. Leblond.
The Cabin of Peter the Great on Petrograd Island is a unique architectural monument and the oldest building in St Petersburg. In the records of Peter’s time the cabin was referred to as the “Initial palace” and the “Red mansion”. The 12,7 х 5,7 metre cabin, made of hewn pine, was built on May 26th, 1703, in a spot chosen by Peter himself. A wooden mortar and “flaming” cannon-balls were put on the roof to symbolize Peter I’s official army title of an artillery captain.
Mikhailovsky garden is a very rare monument of landscape design of the XVIII – early XIX century, representing a unique combination of two different styles of landscaping – regular, or “French”, style, and landscape, or “English”, style. It is also a great example of architectural cohesion of a man-made structure (Mikhailovsky Palace) and natural landscape (Mikhailovsky garden), created by a prominent architect Carlo Rossi.
The collection of masterpieces, chosen by the Russian Museum will allow you to make a first impression of the collection of the Russian Museum.
Russian Museum - one of the world's largest museums and is perhaps the only country where such a full treasure of national culture are presented.
Virtual tour of the museum complex. 2009 (Rus., Eng., Ger., Fin.)
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