The Historical Museum dedicated an internet project to its 150th anniversary

On the eve of the 150th anniversary, the Historical Museum launches the Internet project “First. Russian. Historical ”, which will present rare archival materials and photographs.

On September 3 (August 20), 1875, a solemn ceremony of laying the foundation stone for the building of the Historical Museum took place. For almost a century and a half, Moscow’s Red Square has been adorned with a majestic building erected specifically to house the main museum of Russian history. The richest collections of the State Historical Museum have been studied quite widely, but the history of the creation of the museum itself remains known only to historians and a narrow circle of specialists.

On the eve of the 150th anniversary, the Historical Museum launches the Internet project “First. Russian. Historical ”, within which it will present archival materials, photographs related to key events and people who laid the foundations of the main museum of Russian history.

How the Historical Museum could look like and what role the future Emperor Alexander III played in its creation; where it was originally planned to place the national treasury and when the masterpieces of Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci were hidden under the arches of the museum on Red Square; who offered to demolish the building of the museum and how the eagles-weather vane on the towers of the museum are arranged - many interesting facts about the largest Russian museum are collected on the pages of the Internet resource.

“The history of the museum, which has repeatedly found itself on the brink of destruction, deserves a separate story. Thanks to the efforts of the founding fathers of the museum, its trustees, directors and rank-and-file employees, who by their selfless labor have preserved and augmented priceless collections, today the State Historical Museum is rightfully considered one of the most significant world ancient storage facilities, ”says Alexei Levykin, Director of the Historical Museum.

The project was implemented with the support of the Russian Historical Society and the Fatherland History Foundation.