The fact that there is a unique Museum of Artistic Glass on Elagin Island in St. Petersburg is not known to all tourists visiting Venice of the North. But the fragile exquisite beauty deserves to allocate 2-3 hours for its inspection.
How the museum was created
Sculptor V. Mukhina, chemist N. Kachalov and writer A. Tolstoy proposed to create their own art glass factory in Leningrad. In 1940, such a plant was opened, its products quickly gained popularity not only in the USSR, but throughout the world. Not a single exhibition was complete without unique products of Leningrad glassblowers.
But in 1996 the plant in Leningrad was closed. The richest collection of various glass products collected over many years - more than 7 thousand exhibits - could disappear, get lost. Thanks to the care of the state and caring people, the collection found shelter within the walls of the Elaginoostrovsky Palace.
10 years later, in 2010, on the basis of this unique collection, the Museum of Artistic Glass opens in St. Petersburg. Under it was taken a luxurious Greenhousebuilding of the palace on Yelagin Island.
Exposure
Today, the museum area occupies almost 800 square meters. m.
The exposition is represented by 700 unique products, which are exhibited in 4 halls, each of which has its own name:
- Black;
- Central;
- White;
- Northern suite.
The permanent exhibition is located in the Central and Black halls. There is something to see here, because the museum fund consists of more than 8 thousand objects made of glass and crystal!
The entrance to the hall is lined with a glass walkway, which looks fragile, but is actually very strong, although many visitors cautiously step on transparent glass.
In the exhibition section "Hot Glass Making" visitors will learn about what they knew about glass in Mesopotamia, Egypt. The model of the glassblower's workshop demonstrates how they worked before, what tools they used. Glass was boiled in a pot furnace, and blown with special tubes, pulled out with tongs and cut with special scissors.
Only in the Museum of Glass and Crystal you can find out how glass was dyed. The exposition presents glass products made in different techniques: sintering, filigree, bevelling. For thousands of years, craftsmen have learned how to decorate glass products in different ways, working in the technique of engraving, creating stained glass compositions, painting and folding into a mosaic.
Displayed on display are vases weighing more than 200 kg and a product covered with cracks, but impervious to moisture.
The White Hall is given over toexhibitions, presentations, meetings, conferences, master classes are also held here - all these events of the Museum of Glass in St. Petersburg attract many artists, glassblowers, art historians not only from Russia, but also from other countries.
In all halls you can watch interesting films about glass on large screens.
In order for visitors to get as much diverse and useful information as possible, even going around the museum without a guide, the following are made for them:
- information plates for exhibits;
- interactive touch screens.
Most recently, only in 2018, a hall called "Northern Enfilade" was opened. In this exhibition space, new arrivals are collected - gifts or acquisitions of the city committee for culture. In the Northern Enfilade you can see the products of Soviet and European artists.
Glassblowing workshop
A glass workshop, the only one of its kind in Russia, was recently opened at the Museum of Glass. In the workshop you can not only see with your own eyes how glass products are made, but also learn how to work with fragile material. Tours, master classes, theatrical performances, quests are held in the workshop.
The workshop is open on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 13:00 to 18:00. Interesting and informative interactive programs have been prepared for visitors.
How the museum works
Monday at the museum, as in other institutions of this kind incity, day off. On other days, the doors are open from 10 am to 5:30 pm, on Wednesday from 1 pm to 9 pm.
The price of joining art
The cost of visiting the glass museum is low. For the entrance of an adult you have to pay 200 rubles, 75 rubles. for a student. A ticket for a pensioner will cost 100 rubles.
Take part in a master class and paint a glass product costs 300 rubles
Ticket with tour service costs:
- for an adult visitor 250 rubles;
- for students from grades 1 to 11 100 rubles;
- for pensioners RUB 130
It's more profitable to buy a single ticket to all the museums of Elagin Island (palace, Stables building, Pavilion under the flag). Such a ticket for adults will cost 400 rubles, 260 rubles. schoolchildren, 250 rubles. pensioners.
The road to the museum
The Glass Museum on Yelagin Island is easy to find. You have to get to the station. m. Krestovsky Ostrov and, leaving the metro, turn right onto Ryukhina street. On the bridge over Sr. Nevka road will take 15 minutes.
You can get to the station. m. Staraya Derevnya, turn right from the metro to Lime Alley. The journey will take about 25-30 minutes.
Other glass museums
For those who truly love glass and know how to appreciate this fragile beauty, there are many museums where the best examples are kept. In Russia, "glass" museums operate in Kaliningrad, Saratov, Nikola, Gus-Khrustalny and other cities.
There are 6 glass museums in the USA, among them the leading position is occupied by the museum in the state of New York, New York. Corning. It was founded in 1950 by Corning Glass Works. The Venice Museum is dedicated to Murano glass. The museum in Hakone (Japan) also tells about Venetian products. The museum in Lausche is dedicated to Thuringian glass. There is a "glass" museum in Shanghai (China).
