Arts Square and Russian Museum

The square’s plan was drawn up by the Italian architect Carlo Rossi. According to the "Classical" style of the day, all the buildings lining the square are similar in design and form a harmonious architectural ensemble.

Arts Square derives its name from the cluster of museums, theaters and concert halls that surround it. Some of the most notable include:

• The Russian Museum, one of the country's two largest collections of Russian art.
• The Ethnographic Museum, representing all the ethnic cultures of the former USSR.
• The Small Opera and Ballet Theater (also known as the Mussorgsky Theater), often referred to as "the city's second fiddle to the Mariinsky for opera and ballet" but still a well-respected and centrally located theater.
• The Large Concert Hall (Bolshoi Zal) of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic - the city's prime classical music venue.
• In the middle of Arts Square stands a Statue of Alexander Pushkin (1799-1836), Russia's most famous and most beloved poet and the author of the novel-in-verse "Evgeny Onegin" and some of the most beautiful poetry written about St. Petersburg.

The Russian Museum is the perfect choice for those who interested in Russia art from the 12th century to the mid-20th century. The museum’s collection can only be rivaled by that of the famous Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. The museum’s central building is the yellow, white-columned Mikhailovsky Palace, built between 1819 and 1825 for Grand Duke Mikhail, the brother of Alexander I and Nicholas I. The building was bought by the government during the late 19th century and was turned into the "Russian Museum of the Emperor Alexander III" in 1898. A new wing, the Benois Building, was added to the museum at the start of this century to help house the museum’s growing collections.

Although the museum’s floor plan is somewhat vast and confusing, the collections are incredible and number over 320,000 works, ranging from 12th century icons to canvasses by the 20th century artists Chagall and Malevitch.

Location: 4/2, Inzhenernaya Ulitsa.
Open: 10 am to 6 pm.
Closed: Tuesdays.