| Name: |
Artillery Museum |
| |
 |
| Address: |
Alexandrovsky Park (metro station:
Gorkovskaya) |
| Phone: |
+7 (812) 238-4704, +7 (812)
232-0296 |
| Open: |
Open: 11 am - 5pm
Closed: Mondays, Tuesdays and the last Thursday of every month |
| Description: |
This museum, founded in 1703,
is one of the oldest and largest in Russia. In the mid-18th
century the artillery and military vehicles of the Russian
army, its banners, orders and medals were kept in the "Memorial
Hall" at the Petersburg arsenal on Liteiny Prospekt.
At a later date, exhibits were added from the Armoury and
the St. Petersburg Kremlin's arsenal, the Peter and Paul Fortress,
monasteries and other sources. In 1868 the "Memorial
Hall" was moved to the building of the Crownwork arsenal
(1849-60, architect Peter Tamansky). The museum received its
present name in 1965 when its collections were augmented with
exhibits from the Central Historial Museum of Military Engineering
in St. Petersburg and new departments were opened.
The museum exhibition, which fills 13 halls, recounts Russia's
military history, the development of its arms and armour and
the work of military engineers and signallers. Among the unique
exhibits are the first Russian arquebus (late 14th - early
15th centuries) which fired stone, lead or iron cannonballs;
a bronze gun cast by Yakov in 1491 (the earliest surviving
example of cannon foundry work); a rare collection of seven
guns made by Andrei Chokhov in the late 16th century; and
a bronze mortar -a remarkable monument to the artistry of
the early 17th-century cannon-founders. There are large displays
of weaponry and ammunition, firearms and side-arms, military
trophies, standards, battle paintings, decorations, uniforms
and other relics.
A large part of the museum is devoted to the Patriotic War
of 1812 and the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany (1941-45).
Heavy artillery, rockets, military engineering and signal
equipment are on display in the huge courtyard outside the
museum.
A cinema-hall and lecture-theatre are available for use by
visitors. |
