The best museums Moscow (Москва)

The third building belonging to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts is that of the private collections (МУЗЕЙ ЛИЧНЫХ КОЛЛЕКЦИЙ). The idea behind this presentation is to restore each collection in its individuality in order to make the public appreciate the collector's world. The result is pleasing but the collections are consequently of very unequal value. In particular, there is a beautiful collection of icons of old believers dating from the 16th and 17th centuries.

Marina Tsvetaeva is a great Russian poetess of the early 20th century, going through the period of revolution and civil war. Her house, which remained intact during the Soviet period thanks to the efforts of Tsvetaeva's friends, now houses a museum dedicated to her. Rather than accumulating artefacts from her life, the museum aims to recreate the atmosphere of her relationship with her husband, Serge Efron, her children and her friends, poets and artists.

Created in 1999, MMOMA was the first public museum in Russia to specialize in Russian and foreign contemporary art. It owns thirty paintings by Russian avant-gardists including Kazimir Malevich, Marc Chagall, Nathalie Goncharova and Mikhail Larionov and works by Pablo Picasso, Fernand Léger, Juan Miró, Giorgio de Chirico and Salvador Dali. Today, it has five locations in Moscow and houses an art school, Svobodnye masterskie (free workshops), a large library and a research center for modern art.

Its main site is in the Gubine Mansion, built in the 18th century by architect Matveï Kazakov in a neo-classical style. If this museum does not offer as complete a panorama of modern art as the MoMa, the Tate Modern or the Centre Pompidou, it is appreciable for its various temporary exhibitions that are frequently renewed and mix big names with lesser known artists.

Its permanent collection is composed of the "official" works of the regimes that have succeeded each other at the head of the country. Those of the Putin regime are, for example, the monumental sculptures of Zurab Tsereteli (President of Fine Arts and founder of the museum) located in the outer courtyard. Guided tours are organized in English. One can easily spend an hour there. Finally, on the first floor, the store is very nice and its priodts make original gifts to offer when you get home. There are for example goodies printed with Soviet cartoon characters.

Borodino, on August 26, 1812, was the last victory of Napoleon's great army that finally cost him the war. The Russians voluntarily set fire to Moscow in the following days, marking this conflict even more in the national imagination. Models and paintings make us relive this great battle. The museum is interesting because of its form, which allows us to feel at the heart of the events thanks to its panoramic installation that represents 3,000 characters.

The East has a special place in the Russian spirit and continues to influence culture and morals. This is not surprising, given that the country also extends into the Caucasus and Central Asia. This charming museum (ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ МУЗЕЙ ВОСТОКА) is therefore worth a visit. There are some very beautiful pieces in an old-fashioned scenography for a visit of about an hour. The collection of paintings by Roerich (also exhibited at the Tretyakov) is well suited to the atmosphere of the place.

Gorky spent the last years of his life here, in this place he considered a gilded cage. The building was under surveillance and visitors were filtered, the furniture was state property, registered and stamped. The building itself is a masterpiece of early modernism with its library and Art Nouveau stained glass windows. It was used as a literary salon and writers' house, but also as a reception hall when Stalin came to visit.

Of the three Tolstoy museums in Moscow, not counting his residence in Yasnaya Polyana outside Moscow, Khamovniki is the most interesting and original. He occupies a wooden house where the author lived from 1895 to 1901 and the place recreates the atmosphere of what was one of the most popular literary salons in Moscow. The museum's collection contains priceless recordings of the great Russian writer's voice and films depicting him, dating from 1910.

This second part of the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts is the best and you can get lost there for an afternoon. There is a beautiful collection of French classical, impressionist and fauvist painters. These valuable paintings were added to the museum in the years following the revolution, and were seized from the great collectors of the imperial period. The exhibition is chronological for each of the 3 floors that make it up.

This is one of the artist Feodor Shalyapin's apartment-museums, the only one in Moscow. It is the only one of its kind in Moscow, and it is a perfect example of a 19th-century interior from the lifetime of the famous opera bass, whose fame at the time was comparable to that of George Clooney today. Inside, you'll find posters, photos and portraits, stage costumes and autographed letters that tell the story of her eventful life. Check the website for programming.

The matryoshka is far from being the most typical of the Russian handicraft specialties. This nice museum will allow you to discover it. Russian handicrafts are very varied: Siberia works with birch bark, the North with Gzhel porcelain (with beautiful and distinctive blue and white colors), etc. A 45-minute visit gives you an idea of this variety, before spending 30 minutes in the souvenir store. It's a good combination of touring and shopping!

If you are a fan of military tourism, go to the heart of the Victory Park where the imposing Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War stands. This museum displays with pomp and circumstance many military materials, archival documents, dioramas and films devoted to this war in which more than 26 million Soviets lost their lives. Don't expect an unbiased historical account; after all, you already know the American version of the events...

Welcome to the sanctuary of Russian Impressionism, often misunderstood, always contested. Inaugurated on May 28, 2016, this new small museum brings together a collection of some 150 works patiently acquired and showcased by businessman Boris Mintz since 2001. Following his wishes, its ambition is to prove the existence of a Russian impressionist school as well as its singularity in Russia, distinct from the French canons and its giants such as Manet and Renoir. To this end, the permanent exhibition presents a panorama stretching from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century. We can find great names such as Polenov, Korovine, Serov or even Guerassimov, better known for his socialist realism. Upstairs, two rooms are dedicated to temporary exhibitions, devoted to little-known artists that the museum wants to bring up to date. The building also has a multimedia space, a projection room, a café and a shop to complete the museum's itinerary. There is a real interest in admiring these works, which are undoubtedly masterfully crafted and presented in a very modern way. When you leave this place, you can be sure that Boris Mintz's wager is a success.

Another argument for taking a break is the setting of the museum. He found his home in the former confectionery factory of the "Bolshevik" brand acquired by the tycoon. This old red brick building, renovated in the modern industrial style, also houses the offices of many Russian start-ups.

Burganov is one of the greatest contemporary Russian sculptors whose works can be admired all over Moscow. In particular, the golden sculpture of Princess Turandot on the ancient Arbat. Rather surreal in his approach, he has a recognizable style. His museum-workshop is more of a jumble open to visitors than a proper museum tour. One wanders from rooms to courtyards, from gardens to galleries in a jubilant approach to art, faithful to the style of the owner, soon to be in his nineties.

If you are a paleontology enthusiast, take an hour to visit one of the largest natural history museums in the world, founded in 1716 by Peter the Great. The museum contains real dinosaur skeletons, which will make young and old alike dream! In addition to its amazing permanent collection exhibited in 6 rooms, the museum building is also of great interest: a magnificent example of Soviet architecture that was awarded the USSR State Prize at its creation.

The Jewish Museum and Center of Tolerance is a place that tells a lot and is a good place to visit to understand the history of the Jews in Russia and the countries of the former USSR. To observe their life in small villages that were called misteshka in the 19th century and then see the rampant anti-Semitism that gradually caused these Jews to disappear or die is a very powerful experience. The museum is exciting and its exhibition is varied.

Deliciously creepy, this museum will delight aficionados of old-fashioned dolls, from the time when plastic was not omnipresent in the hands of our toddlers. Here you will certainly see some very beautiful pieces, but the museography also highlights the role of the environment of the young players and restores dresses, furniture, household utensils in a vast mess. The result is a little dizzying and may confuse the inexperienced observer, while those who know about it will be totally at home here.

This small museum is located on the territory of the Collège de la Communication and brings together unique artifacts: collective radio stations, home-made transceivers, amateur radio designs, equipment kits for sports direction finders. The exhibition includes pennants, cups, insignia and medal of amateur radio, QSL card forms issued by the Central Executive Committee of the USSR. A must for every amateur...

Undoubtedly one of the most beautiful exhibition venues in Moscow, this private contemporary art centre compares itself to the Tate Modern or the Centre Pompidou in its ambition to place Russia in the global contemporary art network. Located in the former bus terminal (Bakhmetevsky), this vast space includes several exhibition rooms, a bookshop, a cinema and a good restaurant. The garage is a masterpiece of architecture by the architect K. Melnikov and the engineer V. Shukhov.

The Shchusev Museum of Architecture is the largest museum of architecture and urban planning in Russia. It would need more space than what is proposed, given the long history of leaders in the country's urban planning vision: from Catherine II to Peter I and the great Soviet plans. Inside, we will be able to see many scale models, well contextualized and sometimes quite surprising (including some rather crazy projects for a total overhaul of the Kremlin).

The Water Museum is located on the territory of a former wastewater treatment plant built in 1898. Moving from one room to another, you can trace the history of the first sewers of the Kremlin, learn about the formation periods of the centralized water supply and sewage systems in Moscow - from the Rostokinsky aqueduct to modern facilities - membrane plants for filtering water from the Soviet system. In short, a plunge into this essential and often forgotten aspect of urban history.

43 meters underground, connected to the Moscow Metro, is this recently declassified bunker. It was part of a complex built just before the Cuban missile crisis and remained in operation from the Stalinist era until the end of the USSR and the first 15 post-Soviet years of the Russian Federation when agents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs classified secret information there until 2005. The visit, which has been open to the public since 2018, allows visitors to see the facilities and to be imbued with the spirit of the Cold War.

The Theatrical Museum was founded in 1894 by Alexei Bakhrushin (1865-1929), a famous industrialist and patron of Moscow. The collection includes more than 1.5 million items: sketches of costumes and sets, photographs and portraits, stage costumes, programmes and posters of shows, rare editions on theatrical art, art objects, etc.

The museum also organizes recitals and evenings of well-known artists. You will find stage drawings by Bakst and Vasnetsov, among others.