The Ivangorod historical and architectural museum complex comprises four independent exhibition sites. The jewel of the museum is rightly considered the Ivangorod Fortress — an architectural monument of the 15th–17th centuries. It was founded by the Moscow prince Ivan III in 1492. The fortress is a unique monument of military-defensive architecture of northwest Rus'. The powerful fortress was erected 150 meters from the knightly castle of the Teutonic Order, on the right bank of the Narva River. It is the only example in the world of former enemy fortresses standing opposite each other at arrow-shot distance.
Ivangorod Fortress
Another important museum object is the building of the former office of merchant Orlov, built in the second half of the 19th century. It houses the Museum of Military-Defensive Architecture of Northwest Russia. The exhibition is based on wooden models of fortresses, written information, photographs and archaeological items found during excavations.
Museum of Military-Defensive Architecture of Northwest Russia
The Ivangorod Art Museum was founded in 1980. The basis for the museum’s very first exhibition was the family collection of the artists Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin and his wife — Alexandra Vasilievna Shchekatikhina-Pototskaya. The collection numbered over one hundred paintings and graphic works and items of decorative and applied art. The founder of the museum is considered to be A.V. Shchekatikhina-Pototskaya’s son and the adopted son of I.Ya. Bilibin — Mstislav Nikolaevich Pototsky. It was he who donated the family collection of the famous artists to the museum.
Ivangorod Art Museum
The Art Museum is located in the former mansion of merchant Panteleev, which is a cultural heritage site of Leningrad Oblast. In four halls on the second floor there are permanent exhibitions telling about the life and work of the outstanding Russian graphic artist Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin and his wife, porcelain painter Alexandra Vasilievna Shchekatikhina-Pototskaya.
Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin and Alexandra Vasilievna Shchekatikhina-Pototskaya
The works of fine art on display, items of Russian everyday life, Russian national costume, porcelain and the artists’ personal belongings cover various periods of their creativity: pre-revolutionary Petersburg, Egyptian, French and Leningrad. The Ivangorod Museum has the most complete and unique collection of works by Bilibin and Shchekatikhina-Pototskaya. The museum regularly hosts solo art exhibitions, concerts and themed events.
Illustration by I.Ya. Bilibin
Porcelain plate painted by A.V. Shchekatikhina-Pototskaya
Interior of the Ivangorod Art Museum
