Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Just finding the museum can be tricky; enter through the academy building (the
second entrance as you walk up Solyanoy per from ul Pestelya). Tell the guard that
you want to go to the museum
(v moozáy)
, then go up the main staircase, turn right at
the top, walk through two halls and then go down the staircase to your left. All signs
are in Russian only.
MMUSSEUUM
MUSEUM OF THE DEFENCE & BLOCKADE OF LENINGRAD
(
Государственный мемориальный музей обороны и блокады Ленинграда
; Soly-
anoy per 9; admission R200; 10am-5pm Thu-Tue, closed last Thu of month; Cherny-
shevskaya)
This museum opened just three months after the blockade was lifted in
January 1944 and boasted 37,000 exhibits, including real tanks and aeroplanes. But
three years later, during Stalin's repression of the city, the museum was shut, its dir-
ector shot, and most of the exhibits destroyed or redistributed. Not until 1985's glas-
nost was an attempt made once again to gather documents to reopen the museum; this
happened in 1989. The grim but engrossing displays contain donations from surviv-
ors, propaganda posters from the time and many photos depicting life and death dur-
ing the blockade.
MMUSSEUUM
SHEREMETYEV PALACE
sion R250; noon-7pm Wed-Sun; Gostiny Dvor)
Splendid wrought-iron gates facing
the Fontanka River guard the entrance to the Sheremetyev Palace (built 1750-55),
now a branch of the
State Museum of Theatre & Music
, which has a collection
of musical instruments from the 19th and 20th centuries. The Sheremetyev family was
famous for the concerts and theatre performances they hosted at their palace, which
was a centre of musical life in the capital in the 18th century. Upstairs, the rooms have
been wonderfully restored, which gives an impression of the cultural life of the time.
Occasional concerts are still held here.
MONUMENT
ANNA AKHMATOVA MONUMENT
(
Памятник Анне Ахматовой
; nab Robespierre; Chernyshevskaya)
This moving
statue of St Petersburg's most famous 20th-century poet was unveiled in 2006, across
the river from the notorious Kresty holding prison, to mark the 40th anniversary of
