Kunstkamera

In autumn 1714, Peter the Great gave an order to doctor Robert Areskin to move his personal collections and library from Moscow to the new capital and begin work on the creation of the first state public museum – the Kunstkamera. The collections, consisting of “fish, reptiles and insects in bottles”, mathematical, physics and chemistry instruments, and also books from the Tsar’s library, were put in Peter’s Summer Palace. For Peter the Great, it was extremely important to create an image of a changing Russia. The emperor had the habit of receiving ambassadors in his museum, and a tour of the museum was part of the visit programme for all important guests. The first public exhibition of the Kunstkamera was opened in 1719 in the “Kikin chambers” – the confiscated home of the disgraced boyar A. Kikin. At this time, it was also decided to build a special building. Peter chose the location for the Kunstkamera himself in the centre of the capital. With the addition of the Museum wing to the Kunstkamera building in the 1870s-80s, the area of the permanent exhibits significantly increased. In 1891, new exhibitions were opened, which represented collections on the traditional culture of peoples of the world, following the geographical principle (Russia, Asia, Africa,Australia and America).