Hardly anyone counted how many museums there are in the world. The State Museum of Religion in St. Petersburg is the only one in Russia and one of the few in the world whose expositions represent the history of the formation of religion. The funds of exhibits collected in St. Petersburg number more than two hundred thousand copies: these are cultural and historical monuments of different peoples and eras. The oldest of them are archaeological finds dating back to the 6th millennium BC. e.
How was the State Museum of the History of Religion in St. Petersburg created?
In the Winter Palace (White Hall) in the spring of 1930, an exhibition of an atheistic direction was presented to the public. It was based on exhibits from many museums of the city - the Kunstkamera, the Russian Museum, the Library of the Academy of Sciences, the Hermitage. The initiator of the creation of this exhibition was Vladimir Germanovich Bogoraz, a well-known ethnographer, historian, linguist.
Demonstration and study of the material attributes of religion, as well as objects of worship, was considered a good way that could save Soviet citizens from the "church trouble". The exhibition successfully fit into the ideology of that time, when the fight against religion was carried out by all available methods. It is for this reason that the exposition was very popular.
Exhibition Conversion
The exhibition was quickly replenished with new exhibits, and soon it became necessary to transform it into the Museum of Religion. St. Petersburg was replenished with a new interesting institution in 1930. The city authorities decided to give the building of the Kazan Cathedral, which at that time was inactive, to the needs of the new museum. Moreover, at the time of the "moving" the magnificent temple was in a deplorable state. Museum staff had to put it in order on their own.
Only in 1932, the preparatory work was completed. In mid-November, the museum received its first visitors. It should be noted that this event took place thanks to the talented and wise leadership of V. G. Bogoraz, the great enthusiasm of the employees. The Museum of Religion in St. Petersburg developed successfully. Its employees went on expeditions to various remote corners of Russia and abroad, the collections were replenished with new exhibits, new expositions were opened regularly, and existing ones were finalized.
At the same time, serious scientific and publishing activities were carried out. In 1935, the Museum of Religion opened a researchassociation, which was engaged in the study of already collected collections. By the beginning of 1941, all the numerous expositions were professionally designed and contained a lot of valuable information about the history and development of the beliefs of different peoples.
Invisibly, an anti-religious exhibition transformed into a major scientific institution engaged in educational activities.
Museum during the war years
The Great Patriotic War was a terrible, hard test for our country and its people. We must not forget what trials befell Leningrad and its inhabitants, who not only lived in inhuman conditions, they worked and kept the priceless treasures of their native city.
Most of the employees of the Museum of Religion in St. Petersburg (Leningrad) went to the front, and only a few people kept the collections. Despite the fact that almost all expositions were mothballed, the staff managed to organize several exhibitions in besieged Leningrad.
After 1945, the hardest painstaking work began to restore the collections of the Museum of Religion in St. Petersburg. The building was severely damaged, cold and damp settled in its premises, which could significantly harm the collections. Employees had to combine their main scientific activities with the restoration of the building and expositions.
Unfortunately, after the war, the permanent head of the museum, V. G. Bogoraz, died, and the city leadership decided to merge the Museums of ReligionMoscow and Leningrad with the organization of expositions in the capital. But this plan was not destined to come true - the collections of the Moscow Museum were transferred to the Kazan Cathedral, which was renovated in 1948.
Return to old slogans
In the sixties of the last century, the ideology of the Soviet Union again strengthened atheistic propaganda. In 1954, the museum was renamed - it became known as the Museum of Religion and Atheism. Accordingly, the direction of his work changed - it was assumed that the subject of research should now be the anti-scientific nature of religion, and the exposition was recommended to be changed so that atheism looked like the only true worldview of a Soviet person.
New building
New stage of development State. Museum of History and Religion in St. Petersburg began in the nineties of the last century, when the restoration of historical objects destroyed or closed during the Soviet era began throughout the country. This wave could not but affect the Kazan Cathedral, so the museum began to urgently select another room.
Not far from St. Isaac's Square, premises were selected for the Museum of Religion in St. Petersburg. Address of the new building - st. Post Office, 15/4. The building required serious restoration, and I must say that it was carried out taking into account the requirements of the museum. During construction and finishing works, they tried to adapt it to the needs of the museum to the maximum. It changed its name again - the State Museum of the History of Religion in St. Petersburg. He has been working at the new location since 2001.
His collections have moved fromhuge and high halls of the Kazan Cathedral into more compact, but bright rooms. Museum workers had to re-create the exposition. Nowadays, when organizational difficulties are a thing of the past, and all ideological dogmas have been forgotten by us, the Museum of Religion invites Petersburgers and guests of the city to get acquainted with priceless exhibits that tell about the mysterious aspect of human life - about faith.
Exposures
We have already said that today the museum funds contain about two hundred thousand exhibits that illustrate the history of world religions, movements and beliefs of various peoples. These are graphics and painting, clothing for rituals and religious objects, manuscripts and books, items made of precious metals and musical instruments, collections of stamps and coins, video, photo, audio materials.
All exhibits are divided into fifteen funds, each of which sanctifies a separate topic. All items are exhibited in the form of expositions placed in a certain order - visitors move from the archaic to the medieval, and then move on to later religious movements. The sound and artistic design of the halls enhances the impression of the inspection.
The museum hosts dozens of tours that are dedicated to the main world religions. Excursions are visited by people of different ages - from junior schoolchildren to pensioners, often there are foreign tourists. For each category, you can choose an interesting program - about the afterlifeAncient Egypt and religious symbols, monasteries and shamans of Siberia, objects of exotic cults and famous hermits. Young visitors are offered special programs.
In addition to excursions, the Museum hosts scientific conferences and lectures, a library operates. Most visitors are satisfied that the information provided by the guides is bright and accessible, but at the same time is of a scientific nature. There is no preference for any religion here, just as there is no propaganda of atheism, and even in the museum today there is no hall dedicated to it.
The collection of instruments of torture of the Inquisition is also hidden in the archives, which in the old days was exhibited in the cellars of the Kazan Cathedral.
Museum highlights
Moving from hall to hall, guests can compare how the attitude towards God has changed among people of different faiths, but at the same time, when the tour ends, the question of whether God exists or not remains open. After the museum moved to a new building, displays with some rituals that could frighten visitors (for example, instruments of torture) were removed.
Along with atheism, some sects do not have their own halls. For example, Baptism, which is very popular in the United States, has not been given a place in the museum.
How to get there?
The museum is located almost at St. Isaac's Cathedral. You can get here by walking from the Admir alteyskaya metro station. The journey will take no more than twenty minutes.
Ticket prices
We inform everyone who wants to visit the Museumreligions in St. Petersburg: the price of tickets for adult guests is 400 rubles. For pensioners (upon presentation of a certificate) - 85 rubles. For students (student card required) - 100 rubles. For schoolchildren - 100 rubles. For foreigners - 300 rubles. On the first Monday of each month, admission to the museum is free.
