The Russian Ethnographic Museum (REM) is one of the largest ethnographic museums in the world, which is also informally called the "Ethnographic Hermitage".
The Ethnographic Museum is located in the historical center of St. Petersburg in a beautiful historical building that was built at the beginning of the 20th century specifically to display the ethnographic collection and today is part of the architectural ensemble of the Arts Square.
The history of the ethnographic museum dates back to 1895, when the museum was established on April 13 (25) by decree of Emperor Nicholas II as the ethnographic department of the Russian Museum of Emperor Alexander III. The museum was founded by Nicholas II in fulfillment of the will and in memory of his father, Emperor Alexander III. The initiator of the opening of the museum was the traveler, ethnographer and artist Samuel Dudin.
Initially, the museum was located in the walls Mikhailovsky Palace, which today has restored the palace halls and houses The Russian Museum.
The birthday of the Russian Ethnographic Museum is considered to be January 10 (23), 1902.
From 1902 to 1916, a separate building was built next to the Mikhailovsky Palace, specifically intended for an ethnographic museum. The building was built according to the project of architect Vasily Fedorovich Svinyin.
The museum was opened for free visits in 1923, and in 1934 the ethnographic museum became an independent museum called the State Museum of Ethnography, in August 1948 it was renamed the State Museum of Ethnography of the Peoples of the USSR (GME of the Peoples of the USSR) and since 1992 has had its present name - the Russian Ethnographic Museum (REM).
The museum building is made in the style of Russian neoclassicism.
The central accent of the interior of the museum building is a Marble hall lined with pink Karelian marble. This hall is considered one of the most beautiful state halls of St. Petersburg.
The collections of the Russian Ethnographic Museum tell about simple and close things to everyone: how people worked, sometimes achieving the highest skill; how they built and equipped their homes; rested; raised children; dressed; what they believed in.
The halls of the museum are divided into departments, each of which presents objects peculiar to only one people, which reflects and tells about the culture of each ethnic group. So there are departments of ethnography: the Russian people; Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova; the peoples of Northwest Russia and the Baltic States; the peoples of Central Asia and Kazakhstan; the peoples of the Volga region and the Urals; the South Caucasus, Siberia and the Far East, as well as the history and culture of the Jews of Russia and the treasures of a special storeroom.
All the things of the museum are authentic, collected among the peoples themselves by many generations of museum staff.
In total, the museum has more than 500 thousand ethnographic items on 157 numerous and small peoples of Russia since the 18th century.
In the halls of the museum there is a whole gallery of costumes of the peoples of Russia, including unique clothes made of fish skin and nettle fiber, as well as rare complexes of attributes of shamans of the peoples of Siberia and the Far East; Central Asian carpets, ceremonial weapons and utensils of the peoples of the Caucasus, jewelry made of a variety of materials and many other items of traditional folk crafts.
In addition to permanent exhibitions, temporary exhibitions and excursions, including children's games, are held in the Russian Ethnographic Museum.
The opening hours of the ethnographic museum, information about permanent exhibitions, exhibitions and excursions, as well as the cost of tickets and conditions for visiting the museum, we recommend checking on the official website of the Russian Ethnographic Museum: ethnomuseum.
Address of the Russian Ethnographic Museum: 4/1 Engineering Street, Saint Petersburg, 191186.
Coordinates of the Russian Ethnographic Museum: 59°56'16.0"N 30°20'03.0"E (59.937778, 30.334167).
Nearest metro stations: "Nevsky Prospekt", "Gostiny Dvor" and "Admiralteiskaya".
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