ST PETERSBURG
MUSEUMS
The Hermitage is one of the best museums not only in Russia,
but in the whole world. The State Hermitage Museum has entertained
visitors for more than two centuries. Its history goes back
to 1764, when the Small Hermitage was built to house Catherine
II's art collection.
The Russian Museum in St Petersburg, along with Tretiakov
Gallery in Moscow, is the largest museum of Russian art in
the world. It treasures rich collections of ancient and modern
art by Russian and Soviet painters, sculptures, and graphic
artists.
The Kunstkammer, founded by Peter the Great in 1714 in St
Petersburg, was the first museum in Russia. Started as Peter's
"Cabinet of Curiosities", the museum became part
of the newly formed Academy of Sciences in 1724. For over
a hundred years it functioned as an important public institution.
The Memorial Apartment and Museum of Alexander Pushkin, the
most famous poet of Russia, is located on Moika Embankment,
not far from Nevsky Prospect. In this apartment the poet finished
his famous novel The Captains Daughter and worked on
The Peter the Greats Chronicles.
The first tavern where one could buy vodka was opened in Russia
in 1533.
The beverage was brought into the country even earlier, at
the beginning of the 15th century. The museum dedicated to
vodka was opened in St Petersburg just recently, in 2001.
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Petersburg
Museums
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