St. Petersburg is a city not only of beautiful architecture, but also of a heavy fate. Since its founding, Venice of the North has always been involved in any kind of military conflict. This is due primarily to the fact that the city was the capital of the Russian Empire, however, even after the deprivation of this status, its historical significance provoked the enemies of our state to besiege and try to destroy Leningrad. Based on this, it is not at all surprising that among the 200 museums of North Palmyra, a lot is dedicated specifically to the military past of the Russian state. We will tell you about the most ambitious gatherings that tell about the glorious military past of Russia, which cannot be missed. From the article you will learn the history of the founding of the oldest museums, some interesting facts from their fate.
Tribute to the fleet
“Russia has two true friends - the army and navy, ” said Emperor Alexander the Third. And if the ground troops have been in our country since its first mention in the annals, then we owe the fleet to Peter the Great. He not only founded Petersburg, but also opened the very first public museum, and in fact, also established a naval museum. The latter exists to this day. The Central Military Museum of the Fleet dates back its history from 1709, then it was called the "model camera" and performed purely practical functions. Peter the Great ordered shipbuilders to create a half model of each manufactured vessel and hand it over to the Admiralty, where, in fact, this institution itself was based. This was necessary for the exchange of experience between the masters: the ships were works of art, each existing in a single copy. In addition, the models served as some analogues of the drawings that helped in the construction, in those days drawing was poorly developed. Everything changed by 1805, when the production of naval units became almost conveyor, and in engineering there was such a thing as drawings. Due to the loss of relevance, the model camera was renamed the Maritime Museum by order of Alexander the First, and it became just a collection of historical and technical wonders.
Largest in the world
The central exposition of the museum in its entire history changed addresses three times. Initially, it was located in the building of the main Admiralty, in the 40s of the XX century it moved to the house of the Stock Exchange on Vasilyevsky Island. At the beginning of the two thousandth, on the 300th anniversary, the institution was given a gift, announcing its next move. Now the Central Naval Museum is housed in the Kryukovsk Sea Barracks, not far from Labor Square.
Affiliates
All exhibits could not fit in the main building. In this regard, several additional branches were opened. These are the famous military museums of St. Petersburg - the cruiser Aurora, the submarine Narodovolets on Vasilyevsky Island, as well as the Kronstadt Fortress and Life Road in the village of Osinovets. By visiting the exhibition, you can trace the development of our fleet throughout its existence over three centuries. The pearl of the collection are 80 ship models, created by order of Peter the Great, as well as the famous emperor’s boat. In addition to carefully recreated and restored models, both of which existed in reality ships, and remained only projects, in the exposition of the CVMM and its branches you can see paintings, weapons used in naval battles, documents of different eras associated with the fleet. Here you can see the drawings and photographs of former ships, as well as awards received by sailors.
Military History Museum of Artillery, Engineering and Signal Corps
This repository is a year younger than the naval, but its collection is also one of the largest in the world. It was also founded by order of Peter the Great. There were so many weapons that soon the wooden building of the Hall of Memorable Objects of the Main Artillery Directorate (as VIMAIViVS was originally called) had to be rebuilt. The new house of the Artillery Historical Museum, the collection of military-historical objects received such a name only in 1903, was already brick. Today, other major museums of St. Petersburg have gathered in the storage of artillery. In particular, in 1963 the funds of engineering history were transferred. Two years later, the entire collection of the Military Communications Museum set off. Combining the three names of the collections available, the institution got its current name. Now it is the Military History Museum of Artillery, Engineering and Liaison Forces.
17 thousand square meters of equipment and not only
Today, the artillery museum, we will call it that for short, is located in the Kronverka of the Peter and Paul Fortress. About 900 thousand different exhibits are exhibited in 13 halls, by the way, since 2002, part of the exposition has been under the open sky. This is mainly a technique. Among the collections presented in VIMAIViVS are expositions and personal belongings of Russian emperors and generals and their foreign colleagues defeated by them. The museum takes pride in having Napoleon’s personal weapons. Also, visitors can see uniforms, banners and awards of various eras, paintings of famous battle painters, documents testifying to the development and successes of the army of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and Russia. By the way, the museum has a little-known branch. It is dedicated to the history of cadetism and is located in the Maltese chapel of the Vorontsov Palace.
Military Medical Museum
St. Petersburg is a city of military glory. Oddly enough, but the battles, which are, in essence, a massacre, at all times provided increased therapeutic activity, which allowed people to extend people's lives in peacetime. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you visit the Military Medical Museum to study the military history of our state. He is the youngest of the proposed by us - officially he has his chronology since 1942, when he was founded in Moscow. The exposition moved to the Northern capital three years after the opening, in 1945. The Military Medical Museum presents a collection that includes an exposition of an institution founded by the first emperor of Russia - the Artisan's hut. Museums of St. Petersburg VIMAIViVS and VMM today is a collection of several collections of both the Russian Empire and the USSR.
Expositions
The Military Medical Museum is located not far from Vvedensky Park and Vitebsky Station, in the former barracks of the Life Guards Semyonovsky Regiment. It is not only an exhibition exposition telling about the formation of domestic healing, its role in the world community and actions during battles, but also a scientific and educational center. On its basis, research is constantly being conducted and even discoveries are being made. The Military Medical Museum gathered under its roof mainly doctors, not historians. A special place in the exposition was given to the Second World War and the work of doctors during it, and the sister movement of Russia is also well illuminated. By visiting the Military Medical Museum, you will personally see how the treatment of various diseases has changed over time, you can see a huge collection of documents and books, as well as paintings by great masters of painting, one way or another connected with healing.
