Eastern and Central Europe (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

154 NORTH EASTERN EUROPE

For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp160–61 and pp162–3

Arts Square t

Площадь Искусств

Ploshchad Iskusstv

Map D3. q Nevskiy Prospekt,

Gostinyy Dvor.

Several of the city’s leading

cultural institutions are

located on this imposing Neo-

Classical square; hence its

name. The attractive square

was designed by Carlo Rossi in

Nevskiy Prospekt y

Невский проспект

Nevskiy prospekt

Map C3. q Nevskiy Prospekt,

Gostinyy Dvor.

Russia’s most famous street,

Nevskiy prospekt, is also

St Petersburg’s main thorough-

fare. In the 1830s, the novelist

Nikolai Gogol declared with

pride: “There is nothing finer

than Nevskiy Avenue...in

St Petersburg it is everything...

is there anything more gay,

more brilliant, more resplen-

dent than this beautiful street

of our capital?” Not much has

changed as the street’s

intrinsic “all-powerful” atmos-

phere still prevails today.

Laid out in the early days of

the city, it was first known

as the Great Perspective

Road, and ran 5 km (3 miles)

from the Admiralty (see

p142) to the Alexander

Nevsky Monastery. In spite

of roaming wolves and

Pushkin’s statue located in the

centre of Arts Square

Russian Museum, in the Neo-Classical Mikhaylovskiy Palace

Russian Museum r

Русский Музей
Russkiy Muzey

Inzhenernaya ulitsa 4. Map D3.
Tel 595 4248. q Nevskiy Pros pekt,
Gostinyy Dvor. @ 3, 7, 22, 27,
K-128, K-129, K-169, K-187, K-228.
 1, 5, 7, 10, 22. # 10am–5pm
Mon, 10am–6pm Wed–Sun (last
ticket an hour before closing). &
8 English. 9 English. 7 call for
details. - = http://www.rusmuseum.ru

Housing one of the greatest
collections of Russian art, the
Russian Museum was opened
to the public for the first time
in 1898. When the museum
was nationalized after the
1917 Revolution, art was
trans ferred to it from palaces,
churches and private col-
lections. The museum is
housed in the Mikhaylovskiy
Palace, one of Carlo Rossi’s
finest Neo-Classical creations,
which was built between
1819 and 1825 for Grand
Duke Mikhail Pavlovich.
The chronologically
arranged exhibition starts
on the first floor. The exhibi-
tion continues on the ground
floor of the main building and
Rossi Wing, then the first floor
of the Benois Wing, which
was added between 1913
and 1919. The museum’s
exhibits range from 12th–17th

century Russian icons to

avant-garde painting by

Kandinsky and Malevich.

Highlights of the exhibition

are the works of Russia’s

first-known por trait painters,

Ivan Nikitin and Andrey

Matveev and the brooding

canvases of 19th- and

20th-century artist Mikhail

Vrubel, who combined

Russian themes with an

interna tional out look. Other

leading artists, including Marc

Chagall, El Lissitskiy and

Alexander Rodchenko, are

also well represented in the

museum. Exhibitions are

changed regularly.

The museum also has a

selection of folk art, which

is wonderfully diverse and

includes painted ceramics

and exquisitely embroi-

dered textiles.

the early 19th century.

Opposite the Russian Museum

is the Great Hall of the St

Petersburg Philharmonia, also

called the Shostakovich Hall.

The Philharmonic Orchestra

has been based here since

the 1920s. Among the works

that premiered here were

Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis

in 1824 and Pathétique by

Tchaikovsky in 1893. On the

square’s western side is the

Mikhailovsky Theatre. In the

centre of the square is a

sculpture of one of Russia’s

greatest literary figures,

Alexander Pushkin.