Miniature Museums vs Machine Museums
St. Petersburg is a city where miniature masterpieces and at the same time giant mechanisms can be found in many cultural centers. In this article, we highlight 7 unusual museums: from incredible optical illusions and a small savvy flea to retro USSR games and huge vehicles.
Museum of Optics
Location: Birzhevaya Line, 14
The main exposition of the museum is devoted to the history of optics, its development and achievements. Once inside, one will immediately see a lot of precious things: eggs made by famous Karl Fabergé; the UEFA cup, which Zenit has won; expensive jewelry and other valuable things behind the panels. However, since it is an optics museum, everything you see is unreal. The expensive items that can be observed are holograms. Although at first glance, there's no hint that they do not exist, only from a certain angle one can notice that the panels are actually empty. Next, the visitor will get acquainted with many lighting devices: in bright details the history of how a person went from a burning stick to an energy-saving light bulb and a laser is presented.
Part of the museum exhibits is interactive. The visitors can watch the first cartoons, see the old stereo, operate lightning in balls (don’t worry, it’s safe 😊). In the hall of mirrors, the inventions of the great scientist Leonardo da Vinci can be touched, and one can also try to paint looking in the mirror - it’s not that easy. The museum is very diverse and deserves everyone’s attention.
The Fabergé Museum
Location: Fontanka River Embankment, 21
In the museum of optics, one could observe only holograms of handicrafts by Karl Fabergé. However, in the Fabergé Museum not only his real masterpieces can be seen, but also the inspiring Shuvalov palace in which the museum is located. The nine eggs created by Karl Fabergé’s masters for the last two Russian emperors are of the greatest value - these exhibits are masterpieces of jewelry art and unique historical items related to the rule and personal life of emperors Alexander III and Nicholas II. Several works even contain photos of members of the tsar family.
In addition, among the entire collection of more than 4,000 exhibits not only eggs can be seen, but also other handmade things. For example, old clocks, jewelry, silverware, interior and cult items. Of course, if the visitor wants to take a fancy item to remember the trip, they can buy something in the souvenir shop at the exit next to the buffet.
The Russian Levsha Museum
Location: Italiyanskaya Street, 35
Surely many of you have read the work of Nikolay Leskov ‘Levsha’ about the brilliant Russian master gunsmith, who managed to shoe a steel flea created by English masters. The museum, named after the hero of this book, presents the collection of microminiature master Vladimir Anishin - all exhibits there are less than a millimeter. It is possible to spot these works only with the help of complex magnifying devices built into exhibition forms. Taking photos of the tiny exhibits is forbidden.
One will be able to see among the miniatures clawed flea (its horseshoes are 6 million times less than a horse), caravan of camels in a needle ear, rose inside one hair, text written on rice grain, figures of famous cartoon characters standing on poppy seeds and apple stones, UEFA Cup height 2 mm and the wolf Zabivaka height 1.5 mm. These are just a few examples. Furthermore, in the exhibition format of the museum there are wonderful works of modern blacksmiths, oil paintings, sculpture in the genre of scrape-art, miniature weapons from Damascus steel, paintings on bird feathers and much more.
We have written about museums full of small and unusual exhibits. Now let’s concentrate on the museums, in some of which the exhibits are so big that they are kept outside. We can combine these museums into one category - machine museums, because in all of them the visitors will find incredible inventions.
Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines
Location: Konyushennaya Square, 2
Once inside, the visitors will feel like they are in a huge game room from the USSR era where they can play "Sea Fight", "Sniper-2", "Hockey", "Basketball", various races and other old games that excited those who are 40-50 now in their teenage life. At the entrance you will be given a matchbox with 15-kopek coins used in Soviet Union. These coins run the machines the way they did long ago. Be careful, the number of coins per person is limited, so spend them wisely! It’s better to play a few different retro games than to use the same machine endlessly. When the visitor runs out of tokens, they can play ping-pong for free. If you want to try the first "computer" games, then the museum of Soviet Gaming Machines is waiting for you.
Grandmaket
Location: Tsvetochnaya Street, 16
The exhibition of the museum is the largest model of Russia in the world with an area of 800 square meters: you will be able to walk the way from the Baltic Sea to the far east in just less than an hour. On the mock-up field collective images of different cities and regions are transmitted, and in genre scenes virtually all kinds of human activities are presented.
The dynamics of the composition are given by rail and car traffic, and the various scenes with moving objects and figures are controlled by the audience: by clicking on buttons located in different parts of the layout one can make the objects run. More than 200 trains travel along various routes of a total length of almost two and a half thousand meters and turn the model into a single living organism. The car traffic, using for the first time in the world in construction as a source of power for cars electromagnetic induction, will not leave indifferent any visitor. Every fifteen minutes from east to west, there is a night over the model, for which almost 800,000 lamps are lit up. The museum also has a well-designed infrastructure: it is possible to go through a model with audio guide or binoculars, there is a convenient wardrobe and even a cafe. Finally, there are special steps next to the model for younger visitors, so that they can see everything, too.
Similar to the Grandmaket, there was not so long ago a museum called "Petrovskaya Aquatoria" at Admiralteyskaya metro station – it was a model exclusively of Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad region. Unfortunately, due to circumstances independent of the organizers, the museum was forced to close, but according to the latest news, we will very soon be able to see a reconstructed model of Saint Petersburg - the museum is moving to the Gostiny Dvor. We only have to wait for the announcements, because the move and opening are planned shortly.
Russian Railway Museum
Location: Bibliotechnaya Lane, 4/2
Russian Railway Museum is a structural unit of the October Railway - a branch of JSC «RZD». This is a place where one can see a lot of full-size trains directly on the railway. The museum complex is located on an area of almost 100 thousand square meters. The two buildings - the old steam depots and the spectacular modern building - are united by a glass gallery with a suspension bridge into a single space.
The tour routes pass through a collection of rare and legendary electric locomotives, wagons and other railway equipment. Historical artifacts are juxtaposed with existing models, interactive installations and temporary exhibition rooms, creating an unusual and exciting museum space. The excursion will be interesting even for children, because the visitors will attend different models of trains, sit in them and even try the driver's cab.
The Museum of Urban Electric Transport
Location: Sredniy Avenue of V.I, 77
If in the RZD museum the exhibition is devoted to trains and railways of Russia, in the museum of urban electric transport the visitors will learn more about trams and trolleys – more urban and everyday transport. The guests will have a unique chance to become real travelers in time. The exhibition is built on a chronological principle and demonstrates the development of urban public transport in Petersburg from its very beginning to the end of the 20th century. In total 31 tram cars and 7 models of trolleybuses are presented there.
The evolution of technical thought and how the appearance of urban transport has changed over time can be seen. All exhibits are open for examination, the smallest details of the insides are preserved. You can go into the vehicles, see the driver’s cab, sit in the conductor’s seat, see how the turning mechanisms were activated. In addition, there are photos, posters, tickets of different years, conductor’s bags, service certificates, cash machines and composters among the huge collections of the exhibits.
It is also the Museum of Urban Electric Transport that becomes a starting point in the trip on the old tram, which will cross most of the city along a certain route. If you want to have an urban journey on it, we strongly recommend you to bring something soft to sit on as wooden seats in old trams are hard and not so comfortable to travel for more than an hour.
Each of the museums described has its own official website. For your convenience, you can find all the links to the sources below. Usually the entrance fees are lower if you have some benefits, so don't forget your student ID. Enjoy your visits and discover new and incredible!
*All photos were taken by the author
References
- Museum of Optics - https://optimus.itmo.ru/
- The Fabergé Museum - https://fabergemuseum.ru/
- The Russian Lefty Museum - https://chudomuzey.ru/
- Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines - https://15kop.ru/
- Grandmaket - https://grandmaket.ru/
- Russian Railway Museum - https://rzd-museum.ru/
- The Museum of Urban Electric Transport - https://getmuseum.ru/
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