There is such an amazing place, having visited which, again you begin to believe in a fairy tale. Nothing special seems to be happening. You just find out where the magic lives. Children also like this place, because their favorite heroes live here. For a child to come here means to be a living participant in an amazing story that will later be seen in color dreams for a long time to come. What is this magical place and how hard is it to find a way to it? This is just a puppet museum. And finding him in St. Petersburg is easy.
Pages of history
In St. Petersburg, the kindest and most hospitable museum was opened in 1998. Then his exhibits were taken from several collections of townspeople who are not indifferent to dolls. The exposition expanded over time: ancient dolls found during excavations were delivered to the museum, urban craftsmen and art students gave their work. To date, the Puppet Museum in St. Petersburg has gathered more than 40, 000 exhibits under its roof.
Which dolls live in the museum?
The inhabitants of this amazing museum are very different. There are dolls old and modern, play and interior, traditional and most unusual. That is why you can come here with family and adult friends - it will be interesting in any company.
By the way, there is one mysterious room in this museum where only adults are allowed. This is a room of frivolous dolls. Agree, this is already interesting: not every puppet museum can boast of such a “highlight”.
More about the exposition
The museum has eight theme rooms. The exhibits in them are displayed for a reason, their location is not unsystematic. They are grouped to participate in theatrical scenes, showing the viewer fragments of history, real life or fairy tales.
Acquaintance with the exhibition begins with a hall in which dolls in national costumes show how the holidays were held in Russia, what were the folk traditions and rituals. Here you can see how they celebrated the Nativity of Christ, how they divined at the Christmas time, and how they met the night on Ivan Kupala. In addition, entire puppet families, large and friendly, live here.
In the hall of the fairy tale, guests will meet with the heroes of Russian and foreign magical stories, both folk and copyright. The exposition is organized so that the dolls are arranged as if in a spiral. Thus, the viewer plunges deeper and deeper into the fairy tale.
Hall "Forest Kingdom" - a place where animals and mystical inhabitants of fairy tales and traditions gathered. The play of light and shadow creates the corners of a sunny birch grove and dark impassable thicket. Here the good and not so good heroes coexist. They are all from different stories, but, nevertheless, get along well together, so that the hall looks very harmonious.
“Gone Russia” is an exposition of ceremonial dolls. They are made of straw and fabric, dressed up in traditional folk costumes. They show how our ancestors lived. In the center of this exhibition is the symbolic Tree of Life as a symbol of everything pure and holy that people believed in, as well as the infinity of being.
“Pride and Glory of the Fatherland” is an exhibition that at first was temporary, but several years ago the Puppet Museum in St. Petersburg opened it as a permanent one. Here are dolls-heroes and persistent tin soldiers, portrait dolls of real heroes of historical battles.
The theater hall sheltered dolls that ever really participated in performances or were made by masters in certain stylistic frames. Here are life-size puppets and puppets, “actors” of the shadow theater and small-sized soft toys that a small puppet museum in kindergarten of any provincial town can so often hold as exhibits.
The hall of the interior doll demonstrates salon characters. These are theatrical dolls, and the heroes of classical literature or fine art. They are made of papier-mâché and textiles.
The Petersburg Perspective Gallery tells the story of the glorious city on the Neva. Porcelain Romanovs, literary characters and modern heroes live here: Evgeni Plushenko, Nikolai Valuev and a simple intelligent grandmother.
And, of course, one cannot fail to mention the heroes praising love and worshiping Eros. These are frivolous dolls from the exhibition hall of the same name. Perhaps this is still one of the reasons why the St. Petersburg Museum is a museum of unique dolls. But, of course, his unusualness is not only in this.
Children's programs in the museum
This museum is primarily a children's puppet museum. The abundance of programs for children in it is amazing.
Firstly, you can celebrate a birthday here. Young guests get acquainted with dolls and even learn to make them with their own hands. A meeting with the true hero of the tale and a festive tea party are also offered. And a birthday gift from the museum relies on a souvenir.
Secondly, museum staff often conduct field trips. They come to visit schoolchildren, pupils of boarding schools and orphanages and talk about the museum, exhibitions and the history of dolls. Outreach workshops are also held where kids are taught to make dolls with their own hands. In addition, the exit program suggests that viewers will be able to see the mini-museum. Dolls in it, of course, are not all presented, but such an exhibition still remains very interesting.
And thirdly, the museum hosts game quests for groups of small visitors.
Other holidays are also celebrated here: they organize family events, contests and thematic games, etc.
What else does the unique doll museum offer
On the second floor of the museum are real craft workshops. In one of them colorful dolls in national costumes are born, in the other - secular characters. And you can take a look at the creation process if you come on an excursion.
Excursions here are held both individual and group, in Russian and English, general and thematic. In addition, the puppet museum offers a unique program - a tour in verse. There is an opportunity here and download a simple application on your smartphone and listen to an audio guide tour.
The museum provides preferential tours for children from large families.
About benefits
And there are really a lot of them. Employees of museums and retirees who used to work for them, journalists, writers and cultural figures, people with disabilities of the third group are entitled to discount tickets to the puppet museum.
In addition, free visits are practiced for children under three years of age, children with disabilities, children from orphanages, large families (including both of their parents), students of the faculties of fine arts, war veterans, and blockades.
Monday at the museum is a grace day. Pupils, students and senior citizens can come to the exhibition for free.
Agree, such an abundance of discounts is impressive. Not every museum cares about its visitors so much.
Price policy
A ticket for one adult in the museum costs 300 rubles, for schoolchildren, students and senior citizens half as much - 150 rubles. A ticket for children from three years of age (preschoolers) costs 100 rubles.
A preferential visit also takes place at a ticket price of 100 rubles.
How to get to the museum
The exhibition of the most beautiful dolls can be seen at the following address: Kamskaya street, house 8. You can get there by minibus from the Vasileostrovskaya metro station. Museum working hours: from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week.
