Museums & Art Galleries

Moscow Kremlin Museums

The Moscow Kremlin, one of the largest architectural ensembles in the world, is a unique museum complex that has been created over the centuries. Covering an area of 28 hectares, the Kremlin has spacious squares, green areas, majestic palaces and temples.

The Moscow Kremlin Museums hold more than 160,000 outstanding works of domestic and foreign art and include the architectural ensemble of Sobornaya Square – the oldest square in Moscow – and the Armoury.

The Assumption, Archangel and Annunciation Cathedrals, the Church of the Deposition, the Patriarchs Palace and the Ivan the Great Bell Tower are located on Sobornaya Square. The basement of the Annunciation Cathedral houses the exposition "Treasures and Antiquities of the Moscow Kremlin"; the basement of the Archangel Cathedral houses the exposition "The Ascension Monastery in the Moscow Kremlin"; and the Church of the Deposition houses "Russian Wooden Sculpture of the Late XIV–XIX Centuries".

The Armoury owes its name to one of the oldest Kremlin treasuries: its collection is based on precious items kept in the Tsar's treasury and the Patriarch's sacristy, as well as items made in Kremlin workshops and received as diplomatic gifts. The Armoury exhibits state regalia, coronation dress, Russian goldsmiths' articles and Western European artistic silver, as well as weapons, carriages and ceremonial horse-drawn items.

Address: Sobornaya Square, Moscow

 

Tretyakov Gallery

The Tretyakov Gallery is the main museum of Russian national art, reflecting its unique contribution to world culture.

The Tretyakov Gallery includes two main sites — a complex in Lavrushinsky Lane and the building on Krymsky Val, as well as five house museums, located in different parts of Moscow. Today, the historical building of the Tretyakov Gallery houses an exhibition of Russian art of the 12th — early 20th centuries. It occupies 62 rooms on two floors, is built according to chronological sections and gives an idea of the development of the national artistic tradition. The New Tretyakov Gallery presents the most completed in our country permanent exhibition of the art of the 20th century in all its diversity — avant-garde, socialist realism and art of the "austere style" and "underground" and some new art trends.
 

For more details visit official Website

Address: 10, Lavrushinsky Lane, Moscow

 

The State Historical Museum

The State Historical Museum is the largest museum in Russia. It stores priceless pieces of archeology, numismatics, ancient books, weapons, works of fine and decorative applied art. The museum’s collection consists of more than 5 million objects.

The complex of the State Historical Museum also includes the Pokrovsky Cathedral and the monument to Minin and Pozharsky in the Red Square; palaces of the boyars, Romanovs, on Varvarka and the tsar estate Izmailovo; Museum of the Patriotic War of 1812 and the Artillery Yard with an open-air exhibition. All buildings of the Historical Museum are considered particularly valuable objects of cultural heritage of the people of Russia. Annually, more than 1,500,000 people visit the museum complex. In 2022, the Historical Museum celebrated its 150th anniversary.

Address: 1, Red Square, Moscow

 

St. Basil’s Cathedral

The Cathedral of protecting veil of the most holy Mother of God on the moat.

The Cathedral was built from 1555 to 1561 by order of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, who’s reign was the longest in Russian history. The Cathedral is a military memorial which appeared in honor of victory over the Kazan Khanate. Ten cathedral’s churches are represented interiors of the 16th–20th centuries. The walls and vaults of the temple are covered with frescoes and oil paintings with plant ornament and images of saints. The museum temporary exhibition presents rare examples of ancient Russian icon‐painting school and masterpieces of applied art. Precious donations of royalty and parishioners are located in the former sacristy.

Relics of Moscow inhabitant Basil the Blessed (the contemporary of Ivan the Terrible) were buried under ground near the east wall of Protecting Veil Cathedral. In 1588 on this place was built a church, which is dedicated to St. Basil. Wall paintings and temple icons narrate the amazing miracles of the Saint.

Address: Red Square, Moscow

 

Museum COLLECTION

It is one of the largest private collections of the world's cultural heritage, the repositories of which hold over 20 000 items. The basis of the collection is built up with a great range of exhibits - self-playing musical instruments and mechanical rarities, among them are music boxes, organs, orchestrions, street organs, mechanical pianos and grand pianos, gramophones and phonographs, accordions, clocks and automata.

The Museum houses a great variety of items of art and crafts, paintings and drawings, a comprehensive collection of Russian bronzes, including small statuary of illustrious artists of the 19th – 20th centuries, as well as the collection of old Russian and Foreign silver, glass and crystal.

The highlight of the Museum COLLECTION is a unique repository of rare sound records: it includes media for over 20 000 different music storage devices. The collection holds almost all kinds of audio media of the past, including musical data perforated paper rolls, wax cylinders for phonographs, shellac gramophone records related to the beginning of the 20th century, paper perforated discs, metal discs and contemporary vinyl records.

For more details visit official Website

Address: 16, Solyanka Street, Moscow