Museums of St Petersburg University have started welcoming visitors again. For those who cannot yet come to Russia, the museums continue to work online. St Petersburg University has online tours running for the following University collections.
Dmitri Mendeleev Museum and Archives
Take an an online tour of an apartment in the Twelve Collegia building where Dmitri Mendeleev lived with his family for many years. Here, at the University, the scientist discovered the Periodic Law; wrote the classic textbook ‘The Principles of Chemistry’; and prepared numerous works on the physics of gases, economics, and industry. An audio tour of the museum is also available in Russian and English.
Vladimir Nabokov Museum
Without leaving your home, you can look around the interiors of the building where the famous writer was born. You can also get acquainted with the permanent exhibition of the museum. The virtual tour is available in Russian. The museum regularly hosts exhibitions dedicated to the work of not only Vladimir Nabokov, but also of contemporary writers, poets and artists. You can see art projects on the izi.TRAVEL platform.
St Petersburg University History Museum
The oldest museum of the history of a higher education institution in Russia has an audio guide in English. Visitors of the exhibition can learn about the life of St Petersburg University from the moment of its foundation to the present time; about the achievements of the outstanding graduates of St Petersburg University, including Nobel prize winners, politicians, and cultural and sports figures.
The Mineralogical Museum
The University houses the oldest mineralogical collection in Russia – it contains minerals from which Dmitri Mendeleev and other famous scientists obtained new chemical elements. Today, the museum has over 39,000 items. Visit the museum’s website or watch a video tour to learn about the history of this priceless collection.
The Herbarium
The Herbarium of St Petersburg University is included in all world catalogs and summaries of plant collections under the acronym LECB. Its collections contain at least 800,000 herbarium sheets of higher plants, in addition to collections of lower plants, fungi and lichens. Nowadays, it is possible to access online the tour of the interiors of the St Petersburg University Herbarium; educational botanical models made of papier-mâché; and some of the botanical specimens.
The Palaeontological and Stratigraphic Museum
The museum contains fossils and sedimentary rocks that represent the stone chronicle of the Earth. Its collection has more than 22,000 unique exhibits that you can see on the museum’s website. An audio guide and a video tour with subtitles in English and Korean will help you get to know them better and learn more about their history.
The Petrography Museum
The collection of this museum contains more than 10,000 exhibits, including samples of solidified lava, volcanic bombs, and even rocks formed when meteorites fell on Earth. An audio guide and a video tour with subtitles in English and Korean are available for a virtual tour of the museum.
The Palaeontology Museum
The permanent exhibition features the evolution of animals: from the most ancient forms of life, dating back billions of years, to humans. In total, its exhibits include more than 25,000 items that are arranged in 118 collections. Over 2,300 plant and animal fossils are on display for visitors. Some of them are available through a virtual tour.
The Botanical Garden
The Botanical Garden of St Petersburg University includes three greenhouses and an open ground with a total area of about 2.4 hectares. All plant collections in it are strictly organised. Each species had been carefully selected according to the phytogeographical principle, before they were planted in the arboretum. Thanks to the video tour, which has been launched by the University, everyone can learn about the features and history of the plants of the Botanical Garden. The collection of videos will be increased. You can also watch a large video tour of the garden.
The Modern Sculpture Park
This summer, the University launched a virtual tour of the St Petersburg University’s Modern Sculpture Park. It currently has about 50 items, including sculptures and monuments to scientists, public figures, writers, poets and literary characters. In the park there are the first monuments in Russia to Pak Kyongni, Vladimir Nabokov and Confucius. One of the most interesting objects in the Park is the ‘Labyrinth of Stones’. It is made up of 300 granite stones, which were sent from the largest and oldest universities in the world. A video tour of the Park is also available online.