The Artillery Museum in St. Petersburg is one of the largest in the world and the oldest in Russia. It was founded by order of Peter I, and opened on August 29, 1703 in the Peter and Paul Fortress. The tsar ordered the construction of a Zeichhaus, which translates as “a house for equipment” or a “weapon house”, the caretaker of which was called a captenarmus. Weapons and ammunition were stored here. But Peter I, who was eager for all sorts of wonders, ordered by a special decree to bring artillery pieces “memorable and curious” and trophy from all over Russia.
First Petrovsky Museum of Artillery
The second impulse in its development was received by the Museum of Artillery in St. Petersburg in 1756, when by decree of Elizaveta Petrovna and the efforts of general-feltsdeichmeister (chief of artillery) P.I. Already at the end of the XVIII century, the collection of this repository totaled 8, 000 copies.
The Peter and Paul Fortress, built in accordance with the rules for erecting bastions, had a crown, or crown-shaped fortification, erected in front of the central part of the fortress (curtain wall) and connected to it by two long corridors.
Close relationship with Nicholas I
When in 1868, by decree of Nicholas I, the rooms in the east wing of the crown, located in the mezzanine and lower floors, were transferred to the Museum of Artillery, its new history and more active life began. Part of the courtyard was set aside for heavy guns. The Kronverk of the Peter and Paul Fortress is notorious for the execution of the leaders of the December uprising. On July 13, 1826, five Decembrists were hanged over the curtain ditch: P.I. Pestel, S.I. Muravyov-Apostol, M.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, K.F. Ryleyev and P.G. Kakhovsky.
New Museum Building
In 1849, Nicholas I decided to transform a place that reminded him of unpleasant events. He issues a decree on the construction in the crown of a two-story stone building, which will have a horseshoe-shaped shape with a length along the central axis of 472 meters.
On the second floor of the newly built building are embrasures and loopholes. Ravelin, whose external walls are 1.8 meters thick, makes a worthy impression. The unique collection that the Museum of Artillery in St. Petersburg had was replenished in 1963 with the funds of another large museum, and in 1965 - another. Thus, of the three arises the current Military History Museum of Artillery, Engineering and Signal Corps, the name of which indicates which museums are included in its composition. It occupies a fairly large area on which numerous tanks, combat vehicles and guns are located. The united museum, whose age is approaching 150 years, today has 850, 000 exhibits in its funds.
Museum wonders
The Museum of Artillery in St. Petersburg has been known to every resident of the city since childhood due to its unique specimens, among which there is a funny but functioning cannon, donated by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich to little Peter. There are also mattresses firing shots and taking part in the defense of Moscow from the troops of Tokhtamysh, who besieged the capital in 1380. There is also a mortar of the Imposter, cast by the famous gunsmith Andrei Chokhov. The unique collection is famous not only for relics, its exhibits include modern missile systems and self-propelled guns (self-propelled artillery mounts).
The Museum of Artillery in St. Petersburg has not only artillery weapons in its funds, there are awards of all Russian emperors, personal weapons of Alexander I, Nicholas I, M.I. Platov and Napoleon.
