Museum of History of Religion

Categories / Science. Education/Museums
MUSEUM OF HISTORY OF RELIGION (14/5 Pochtamtskaya Street) is the only institution of such kind in the country. The museum dates back to the antireligious exhibition arranged in the halls of the Winter Palace in 1930. The museum was opened in 1932 as the Museum of History of Religion and Atheism in the building of Our Lady of Kazan Cathedral. The museum has carried its present-day name since 1990. The richest collection of the museum (some 18,000 exhibits and the library of some 185,000 volumes) was formed owing to additions from other museums, valuables confiscated from churches and monasteries, private donations and materials of research expeditions. The collections of the museum include a large collection of Orthodox icons, including those of the 14th – 15th centuries, canvases and drawings by Russian artists (I. K. Aivazovsky, V. M. Vasnetsov, K. A. Korovin, B. M. Kustodiev, M. V. Nesterov, V. I. Surikov et al.), pieces of Western-European painting of the 15th – 17th centuries. The museum was transferred to the building at the present-day address in 1991. A part of the funds remained in Our Lady of Kazan Cathedral. The exhibition is devoted to the beliefs of the Ancient Orient, Antiquity, Judaism, Catholicism, and Orthodoxy.

References: Шахнович М. И. 25-летие МИР АН СССР // Вопросы истории религии и атеизма. М., 1958. Т. 5. С. 411-424; Брушлинская О., Жерневская И. Связь времен: (К 50-летию ГМИР) // Наука и религия. 1983. № 1. С. 2-9.

N. L. Korsakova. Aivazovsky Ivan Konstantinovich
Korovin Konstantin Alexeevich
Kustodiev Boris Mikhailovich
Nesterov Mikhail Vasilievich
Surikov Vasily Ivanovich
Vasnetsov Viktor Mikhailovich
Pochtamtskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 14/5
Шахнович М. И. 25-летие МИР АН СССР // Вопросы истории религии и атеизма. М., 1958
Брушлинская О., Жерневская И. Связь времен: (К 50-летию ГМИР) // Наука и религия., 1983 Winter Palace
Kazan Cathedral
1932