St. Petersburg is the city of Museums. There’s not one tourist who have visited St. Petersburg once who can say that they have been to all the museum in the town on their tour to Russia. That’s because of the number of museums in the city. Even if you want to only visit the major museums in St. Petersburg during your Russia tour, you would still miss a bunch of museums. The number of museums alone is one of the reasons why people who have plans to travel to Russia and visit St. Petersburg should get an assistant from travel agencies. If you don’t have a good idea for your tour to St. Petersburg, you’ll be short on time and energy during your Russia tour.
While most tourists spend their time during their tour to Russia in major attractions in St. Petersburg, some people want to visit some of the less famous attractions in St. Petersburg as well. The Museum of History of Religion, for example, is an excellent place for people to understand the timeline of religions around the world and their beliefs. The Museum of Political History is the place where people will learn about the politics of Russia and other major powers in the world, especially during the second world war and the cold war. Yelagin Island is one of the major attractions of St. Petersburg, which houses the Museum of Glass Art. The State Museum of Theatre and Music with all its branches, including the Samoilov Museum, Chaliapin Museum, and Sheremetev Palace, attracts lots of tourists who want to learn about the Russian history of Music and Theater during their tour to Russia. Many other small museums, such as Anna Akhmatova Memorial Museum, are there to entertain people who would like to have a different experience other than the usual tour to Russia programs.
St. Petersburg also houses several scientific museums, which are great for family adventures because both children and adults would love to learn about new things on their Russia tour. Museums like Kunstkamera and the Zoological Museum are well-known enough for people to visit them on their trip to Russia. However, there are some other science museums in St. Petersburg that are still not famous enough for people to visit them on a regular basis. One of which is the A. S. Popov Central Museum of Communications.
While most people outside Russia give Guglielmo Marconi credit for inventing Radio communication, people in Russia honor Alexander Popov for that matter. Alexander Popov had presented his thesis on Radio communications to the Physical and Chemical Society in St. Petersburg in 1895, which changed the way of the wireless connection in Russia. He was born in 1859 in Krasnoturinsk. He showed his love for engineering and electronics during his childhood. One of the first Russian radio stations that used to send messages was built under his supervision in Gogland Island. He died because of brain hemorrhage in 1906.
The A. S. Popov Central Museum of Communications, which named after Alexander Popov, the most celebrated Russian radio pioneer, locates inside the former Prince Alexander Bezborodko Palace. The Bezborodko Palace was designed by famous Italian architect Giacomo Quarenghi for the prince who was one of the closes people to Catherine the Great, and later during the reign of Paul I became the Chancellor of Russia. The palace had seen many owners throughout history until, in 1829, when the Postal department needed additional space, Nicholas I acquired the building by an imperial court order to house the postal department. After the revolution, the postal department, which back then changed its name to the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs, transferred to Moscow alongside The Museum of Posts and Telegraphs, however, because of lack of space in Moscow, Museum of People’s Communication had returned to St. Petersburg. It was in 1924 that the Museum of People’s Communication or Museum of Public Telecommunications occupied its current location in Bezborodko Palace.
Even though the museum of initially established in 1872, its doors remained closed for the public for the first half of the century of its existence, during which only post officials, students, and people with invitations had access to the museum. It was only after the October Revolution that people could visit this museum. During the Second World War, the museum underwent some difficult times, since the military request museum to hand over all of its still working communication equipment from the 1930s and the early 1940s, and the rest of the museum exhibits were moved to the basement to keep them safe from the bombardment of the Nazi troops. However, that decision was proved to be accurate since part of the building was destroyed by direct hits. Since the end of the Second World War was coincide with the 50th anniversary of Radio communication’s invention, the Soviet government changed the name of the museum to Alexander Stepanovich Popov Central Museum of Communications, in honor of his work and services. The museum went under reconstruction after that matter and only opened its doors to the public in 1950. Due to some unfortunate circumstances, the main museum hall and most of its exhibition halls were closed in 1974. However, in 2003, on the 300th anniversary of the establishment of St. Petersburg, the museum was once again opened its doors to the public and had been operating ever since.
The museum has a vast collection of hardware, documents, library, and ZPO collection, which thanks to Svyaz industry, all of its hardware equipment have been restored to the fully functional state in recent years. The hardware collection of the museum contains material, devices, objects, items, and apparatuses in every section of communication, including postal, telephone, telegraph, radio communications, broadcasting, and television. There are also loads of art, graphics, paintings, and many more items regarding transmissions. The museum also has one of the most extensive collections of stamps in the world. This museum is one of the best places for both children and adults to enjoy their time during their tour to Russia. If you have decided to visit this museum during your Russia tour, make sure to visit the museum’s pneumatic postal tube, which is quite exciting for children.
We at the Star Travel Company recommend all of our tourists visiting our weblog to learn more about these sorts of museums, which are not as popular as other major attractions of St. Petersburg. You can also learn about our tips and pieces of advice on how to travel to St. Petersburg, how to visit Moscow, and how to plan for a Russia tour in general.
