Generalissimo Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov was the first person in Russia to be honored by a memorial museum in Russia. The museum in St. Petersburg was erected in 1901 due to the Imperial order of Emperor Nicholas II and was under construction between 1901 and 1904. Donations for its construction came from a wide range of military and civil societies. The Sovereign himself, who in 1898 ordered the Empire to start the petition to raise funds for the creation of the museum, became the main donor and patron of the “temple-monument.” Preobrazhensky regiment allocated a place for the museum: part of its parade ground on the corner of Kirochnaya and Tavricheskaya streets.

Both wings of the main facade are decorated with the mosaic paintings compiled by the mosaicists N.E. Maslennikov and M.I. Zoshchenko (the father of the famous Russian writer M.M. Zoshchenko) based on the sketches of A.N. Popova (“The Suvorov crossing the Alps”) and N.A. Shabunina (“Departure of Suvorov to the 1799 campaign”) artists. Under the tent of the central tower, crowned with a two-headed eagle, is the Alexander Suvorov prince’s coat of arms. The entrance to the museum is decorated in the form of an ancient Russian palace porch.

The solemn opening and the church consecration of the Suvorov Museum took place on the 175th anniversary of the commander’s birth, on November 13 (according to the old-style calendar) in 1904, in the presence of Emperor Nicholas II, representatives of the regiments where Suvorov served, the colonels of the General Staff Academy, the founders of the museum, and the descendants of the Generalissimo. In 1918, due to the revolutionary events and the evacuation of the museum collection to the inland of Russia, the institution was closed and reopened only in 1951, but already not as a memorial. Rather, it was opened as military-historical museum.In 1991 the museum returned its original status and became known as the State Memorial Museum of Alexander Suvorov.

From 1988 to 1998 the museum was closed for major repairs, during which its original interior was restored by using the old photos. A new exposition was created that was entirely dedicated to the great Russian commander. On May 8, 1998, the museum was reborn as a temple of the Russian military glory and the Suvorov memorial. In 2004, on the 100th anniversary of the museum, the “eagle” was returned on the main tower.

Today, the museum conducts active exhibition efforts, publishes scientific collections: “Suvorov Readings.” Suvorov museum’s exhibits have been published in a number of catalogs of the last major thematic exhibitions.

Яндекс.Метрика