Saint Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music

About museum

The Saint Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music is located in the historic city center, in a building that is part of the Alexandrinsky ensemble, designed by the great Carlo Rossi. Since 1840 the Directorate of the Imperial Theatres was housed here, where the fates of Russian theatre were shaped. In 1918 it was decided to open the first theatre museum in Petrograd in this building. Gradually its collections were augmented with materials from private collections and the archives of the Directorate of the Imperial Theatres. The first exhibition opened in 1921. In the 1970s branches were opened — the memorial apartment museums of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov and F. I. Chaliapin. In 1985 the State Collection of Musical Instruments was created, and in 1990 the Sheremetev Palace was incorporated into the museum, where a branch devoted to Oriental style was established. Thus, the museum offers visitors a wide range of materials and collections that make it possible to learn more about the history of Russian theatrical and musical arts.