The best museums Saint-Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург)

The Arctic Circle is not far away, and this Arctic and Antarctic Museum, unique in the world and with its old-fashioned charm, will convince you of this by sharing with you the fascination of the ice pioneers who set out to conquer the ice pack from St Petersburg. Founded in 1930, its collections follow in the footsteps of simple walrus fishermen venturing into the icy horizons, then in the wake of the first polar ships, hardly more sophisticated, on which the scientists attracted by the North Pole embarked. You will see Amundsen's Gjoa or Nansen's Fram, or the Russian ships of Lomonossov or Rossanov. To reach the poles, man will have tried everything. This museum proves it to us with, for example, this curious device made of wood, metal and canvas suspended above the entrance, aboard which Paninin had the audacity to embark on the adventure. Finally, the visitor will learn that the North Pole is not only a land of adventure but an immense region inhabited by peoples with cultures rich in tradition; from the Nenets to the Yakuts, from the Tungus to the Chukchi, you will become familiar with the little-known art of the people of the Great Siberian North and their animal and plant environment. Not the most modern museum in the city, but its somewhat outdated setting gives it a touch of poetry. Don't miss the highlight of the show: every half hour, when the public is large enough, the museum employee in charge of looking after the collections gets up and turns off the lights. After a second of darkness, lights appear in a niche dedicated to this purpose: the Northern Lights. There is little information translated into English, so you have to go there with your eyes and mind wide open for non-Russian speakers, but it's a good opportunity to take the hand of your children or partner and go back to childhood.

Another interesting fact concerns the location of the museum, in the former Church of St. Nicholas, which was rebuilt in 1934-1936 and later turned into a museum. Even today, its curved ceilings and granite columns evoke mixed feelings. It must be said that the Russian Orthodox Church has not lost hope of recovering the building (as happened with St Isaac's Cathedral); the last request for restitution of the building and eviction from the museum was rejected in 2016. The battle is therefore won for the time being, but for how long?

Created before the end of World War II, this unique museum opens just three months after the end of the blockade of Leningrad. It was closed in 1949 by the Stalinist authorities who wanted to hide the consequences of the terrible blockade. The museum's staff were imprisoned, the director was executed, and many objects were destroyed. The museum reopened in 1989. It is an important testimony to the almost 900-day siege during which the Wehrmacht (with the help of the Finnish army and Spanish volunteers) starved and pounded the city night and day in order to bring it down, in vain. A siege that claimed more than 1,000,000 victims and remains unknown in Western Europe. The museum includes a large exhibition hall, with an area devoted to wartime posters. There is also an exhibition on artistic life during the blockade. Despite the terrible lack of resources, especially during the winter of 1941-1942, many concert halls and theatres continued to function. The focus of the exhibition is a reproduction of an apartment from the time of the Leningrad blockade, with caulked windows, smoke-blackened walls, and furniture reduced to the bare minimum as most of the furniture was burned for heating. After the restoration in 2018, the museum inaugurated a new space dedicated to the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. In the course of the work, old ceramics from the Crafts Museum, located there before the Revolution, were found.

The largest railway museum in Europe and one of the largest museums in the city. A collection of steam, electric locomotives and other rare and legendary railway objects are displayed on 55,000 sqm (more than 5 football stadiums). Opened in 2017, it is one of the latest big additions to the Petersburg cultural landscape. Among its 118 exhibits, many are equipped with multimedia installations that will entertain young and old. Audioguide in English.

This Art Center is part of the set of alternative places called "Pushkinskaya 10". This giant squat opened its doors in 1989. Invested by the artists of the city while the USSR was counting its days, it was first registered as an NGO, free culture, which still exists. Workshops, photo exhibitions, multimedia... The program is always very busy, but the occupants have managed to find a balance between creative work and opening to the public. Let's be frank: this place is unique. Comparing it to a Parisian artistic squat would only give an approximate picture. It's a veritable hotbed of culture and life. A sharp electro record store has been set up there as well as a bookstore and a café.

Museum of the Beatles of Kolya Vasin. Another good reason to come to Pushkinskaya-10 is in the 1st courtyard, renamed John Lennon Street, Abbey Road and Temple of Love, Peace and Music. All of them were created by the most famous Beatles fan of all Russia, Kolya Vasin. It all began when Kolya sent a letter to John Lennon on his birthday in the 1970s. A few months later he received an unexpected reply in his mailbox: a vinyl signed and sent by John Lennon himself. This was the first stone in the building of the Temple of Love, Peace and Music, which brings together an impressive collection of objects of all kinds related to the Liverpool Quartet, carefully assembled over 60 years. After Nikolai's departure from this world to join his friends John and George, Vasin's heirs decided to open the collection to the general public. A moving story of great passion and love.

The museum has been fully restored for the centenary of the poet's birth. Moscow and St. Petersburg are snatching up the legacy of the great Pushkin. Although the present Russian capital was his birthplace, St. Petersburg, to which his work is intimately linked, did not really bring him luck: it was in this mansion on the quay of the Moika Canal that the great Russian writer spent the last four months of his life, from September 1836 onwards. An existence tragically interrupted by a duel with G. d'Anthès, who was assiduously courting his wife. In spite of this short stay, the museum housed in this building is rich in many souvenirs related to Pushkin, but also to the great names of Russian history: the former residence was indeed inhabited by Biron, a favourite of Empress Anne Ioannovna in the 18th century.

Pushkin, a true god living in Russia, where he is both the best writer and a kind of founding father of the nation, still moves the crowds who religiously crowd into this apartment museum. Another sign of the fervour, already evident during his lifetime, is the note from his doctor on the door of the staircase informing his admirers of his state of health. The museum is more interesting with a guide, who passionately narrates the last days of Aleksandr Sergeyevich's life: the insulting letter received from d'Anthes, the fateful duel on a January morning, the agony on the bedroom couch.

The entrance hall, dining room, living room, bedroom, study and children's room have been reconstructed with a remarkable concern for authenticity from the furniture and possessions that belonged to the Pushkin family. A few objects dear to the poet were preserved: portraits of his four children and a few friends, a copy of Charles Perrault's tales, his cane, his pipes, his pen... Riddled with debts, the poet was unaware of the luxury, if not that of a library with 3,000 books. You will stop with emotion in front of the desk where he wrote his last works, as attested by some of his manuscripts exhibited in the room, in front of the sofa where he breathed his last and in front of his death mask, kept in the museum next to a medallion containing a curl of his hair collected by Turgenev. Every year, on January 29, the museum pays tribute to the writer by organizing the "Pushkin Day".

A vibrant testimony to Peter the Great's insatiable curiosity for science, the Kunstkamera is one of the oldest and richest ethnographic museums in the world. Founded in 1714 by special decree of the Tsar, it occupies a large building in Baroque style. It is on these docks that the founding czar chose to store his private collections. In Amsterdam, Peter the Great bought Professor Frederic Ruysch's collection of anatomical preparations, which he enriched with other acquisitions: foetuses preserved in formalin, skeletons of Siamese babies, deformed toads... all embellished with stuffed animals, rare stones and crystals, mechanical toys and medical instruments... You can notably observe the skull of Khadji-Mourat, hero of the Caucasian wars against the Russians, immortalized by Tolstoy, as well as teeth pulled out by Peter the Great himself. In short, a magnificent gallery of horrors that testifies to the sometimes strange tastes of the czar builder, and illustrates his passion for the discoveries of his time! Today, the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) is also one of the main centres of the Russian Academy of Scientific Research. The three-storey building housing this cabinet of curiosities is surmounted by a tower serving as an observatory. Like many other museums in the city, the Kunstakamera unfortunately does not have a translation of the descriptive plates of its pieces.

Soviet nostalgia... After leaving St. Petersburg for nearly 3 years of renovation, the cruiser Aurora returned with great pomp and circumstance on July 19, 2016. Moored at the confluence of the Neva and the Great Neva, this battleship more than a century old (built between 1897 and 1900 on the orders of Nicholas II) of impeccable metallic grey is to Saint Petersburg what the mausoleum of Lenin is to Moscow in terms of revolutionary symbolism. It was indeed from the cruiser Aurora that the signal for the revolution of October 1917 was given, marking the dawn of a new era for the country and the world. It was indeed his cannon shot fired with blanks that announced to the revolutionary soldiers and sailors the moment of the assault on the Winter Palace. Before that, he had fought in the Pacific waters against the Japanese in 1904 and then crossed swords with the German navy in the Baltic. Since 1948, when it was permanently anchored at Petrogradskaya Quay, east of the Peter and Paul Fortress, its long grey hull topped by three chimneys has been an integral part of the urban landscape of Leningrad and is likely to be part of the urban landscape of St Petersburg for a long time to come. There has been talk of moving it, scrapping it, not to mention more or less far-fetched projects such as turning it into a discotheque. The USSR is no more, but its legacy lives on. Although it is not the most interesting museum in the city, the visit is nevertheless very popular with children.

This icebreaker was built for the Czar's navy in Newcastle in 1916. But, after the revolution, England confiscated it, until Krasin, the People's Commissar, recovered it in 1921 for a fee. Krasin was at the forefront of the international mission to save the Italian Nobile expedition in 1928, whose airship was damaged on its return from the Pole. During the Second World War, she was the only Soviet ship to take part in the convoy to Murmansk, which was under fire from Nazi warships, with the aim of distributing war material to the USSR. It also receives Gagarin at the time of its landing. An exhibition with many photos retraces all these anecdotes.
But the highlight of the visit remains the boat itself. Its spacious deck contains both old and recent navigational instruments. We also visit the engine room, and the cabins of the various crew members, from the captain's to the machinists' cabins. A very fun visit, as you immerse yourself in the intimacy of life on board. Beware, the icebreaker Krasin is not open to the public, but only through excursions organized by the conservation team in charge of the administration of the precious ship, now retired. Guided tours depart at fixed times, at the beginning of each hour.

Night of the Museums: The icebreaker is a great fun to visit during the Night of the Museums, on June 15.

Bring sturdy footwear.

This museum devoted to the history and culture of the peoples of Russia occupies the left wing of the Mikhailovsky Palace (Russian Museum). This museum of the ex-Homo sovieticus has more than 500,000 pieces from 150 peoples living on the territory of the former USSR, from the Caucasus to Yakutia, from Moldavia to Sakhalin through Central Asia: an invaluable testimony to the cultural traditions of these peoples, through their ritual objects, their crafts, their weapons, their clothing.

Impossible to miss this magnificent mansion designed on the Quai des Anglais, by Vallin de la Mothe. In the 19th century, it housed the collections of Count Nikolaï Roumiantsev, a diplomat and man of culture. Today it is annexed to the History Museum of Saint Petersburg and hosts the exhibition Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War. More than 2,000 objects are on display: photos, weapons, personal belongings of the inhabitants and defenders of the city under blockade.

The museum is located in the apartment where Kirov lived between 1923 and 1934, the year of his assassination, in conditions still unsolved, which gave the signal for the Great Stalinist Purges. Many people today regard Stalin as the person who ordered the assassination of this very popular member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. Stalin decrees that Kirov is the victim of a conspiracy by his rival Grigory Zinoviev and his supporters, accused of launching a "campaign of terror" against the Party. The investigation of the trials and the judicial proceedings are accelerated on the very evening of the assassination by exceptional decree. The "law of ¹ December" will be the tool of the purges. But the most important part of the museum is located on the floor above. Entitled "For Our Happy Childhood", the permanent exhibition describes the birth of the scout movement, its transformation into a pioneer movement and the lives of children during the early years of Soviet rule. A large part of the exhibition is devoted to the children's counter-revolution during the Civil War: secret documents on children's protests against the Bolsheviks' ruin are shown, as well as the cruel repression of abandoned children (Bezprizornikis). A classroom from the 1930s is reconstructed, with a map hanging on the wall showing the routes of exile taken by white Russians, the social strata close to the Tsarist power.

The great Russian baritone Fedor Shalyapin (1873-1938) lived in this building in a residential area north of the Peter and Paul Fortress before the revolution forced him into exile in Paris. In 1922, he took advantage of a tour of Europe and France to disappear and settle in France where he lived until the end of his days. During the latter, he also fell in love with the Basque Country, spending much of his time in a beautiful villa on the hill of Sainte-Barbe, in Saint-Jean-de-Luz (the neighbouring Biarritz welcomed many exiled Russians in the early years of the Revolution). However, he had not taken everything with him to France. As proof, the museum, which was set up in 1975 in the artist's former apartment, to the sound of Boris Godounov's brilliant interpretation, has done so much to promote Russian lyric art. His interpretation of Salieri in Mozart and Rimsky-Korsakov's Salieri will remain forever engraved in opera history. Visitors will evolve in the environment of the great singer before his Parisian exile, accompanied by his sound recordings, among his furniture, his personal belongings, photos, scores and other objects dear to his heart. Fascinating and particularly touching for those interested in lyric art. It is not uncommon to attend performances, readings, and other performances. Consult the website for programming.

Set up in 1709, by special decree of Peter the Great, under the high golden spire of the Admiralty (which cannot be visited), the Musée de la Marine has since moved into the neoclassical building of the former Stock Exchange, dating from the early 19th century, as have the famous rostral columns erected in front of the building. Already more than 300 years old, it is nevertheless the world's first museum complex devoted to the navy, and one of the largest on the planet. This is yet another example of the Tsar's deep curiosity about the maritime issue and the extremely proactive policy pursued by Peter the Great to ensure that Russia catches up with the rest of the world in this area. The museum has a rich collection of some 2,000 model ships (including the famous grandfather of the Russian Navy, the small ship built by Peter the Great), as well as 5,000 marine paintings, 7,000 pieces of armament and more than 3,000 flags and standards, all related to the maritime history of St. Petersburg and Russia. After the first grasp of the technical prowess of building the models, one will get tired of the endless parade of portraits of admirals, all engrossed in their costumes... The explanations, untranslated, will only suit Russian speakers and especially connoisseurs of naval history. Not to be missed, however: the majestic (and truly impressive) bows adorning the wide staircase leading to the upper floor.

This aperitif-friendly museum, located in a historic building close to the Saint-Isaac cathedral, offers to educate you about invention, manufacturing secrets, history, traditional consumption patterns and the great producers of the national beverage. Imperial tasting services and bottles from the 19th century to the present day are on display. Guided tours are organized in English but you can opt for the audioguide in French.

The crates close one hour beforehand. Closed every last Monday of the month, January ¹, 2 and 7 and May 9.

The revolution did not wait two years to set up a museum. As early as 1919, the Museum of the Revolution set up its quarters in the Winter Palace, symbolizing the victory over the imperial regime. It was only with the de-Stalinisation in 1957 that it moved to a more anonymous but nevertheless aristocratic residence, the private mansion of the great ballerina Mathilde Kschessinska (1872-1971), built in 1904-1906 by the architect Alexandre Hohen and known as the "ballet star's castle". A place to see for people nostalgic for the red flags and the International sung in all languages. Otherwise the interest is still very limited. Since the fall of the Soviet regime, however, the museum has broadened the horizons of political culture and debate. It is a beautiful, modern and interactive museum with many, sometimes unexpected pieces, such as the famous cap of a great director Andrei Tarkovsky or the shirt of Andrei Sakharov, a famous nuclear physicist and one of the creators of the first Soviet hydrogen bomb.

Kshessinska Mansion: part of the museum is dedicated to the former owner of the building, the famous dancer who had to go into exile in 1920 in Paris and spent the rest of her life there until her death. She is buried in the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois.

The visit to the apartments of the great prince Constantin Constantinovich (the poet K. R.) is subject to a charge and can only be done in a group. Situated in a street parallel to the Palace Quay, a majestic backyard lined with Baroque palaces where the Petersburg aristocracy resided, the Marble Palace was built for Count Orlov from 1768 to 1785 by the architect A. Rinaldi, on a commission from the very generous Catherine II. It bears his name well, if it is declined in the plural, since its facade is covered with 30 kinds of marble. The Soviet regime will make a marble sarcophagus for Lenin, whose palace will house the local museum from 1937. In 1991, the building will also be assigned to the Russian Museum and, on the occasion of the exhibition devoted to official Russian portraits, will return to its past of luxury and pomp. A sculptural foretaste is given with the monument to Alexander III, by P. Troubetskoy, which stands in the square adjoining the palace. The emperor's disproportionate size compared to that of his horse made the sculptor himself (who had only conformed to the tsar's expectations) laugh. In 1937, the Soviets took the statue down into the basement of the palace, and it did not come out again until 1994. Architecturally, the palace is a mixture of the Baroque style favoured by Catherine II and the neoclassicism that Alexander I loved