What-what, and the number of museums and exhibition venues St. Petersburg boasts like no other city. But still, the Museum of Printing stands apart. It sets out in detail the whole history of domestic printing in the city on the Neva, starting with the appearance of the first Russian newspaper Vedomosti in 1703 to the present day.
Museum History
The Museum of Printing in the Northern Capital is located in the very center of the city - next to the Palace Square. Despite the fact that in recent years a lot of unusual and original cultural institutions have appeared in the city, for example, dedicated to bread or even Russian vodka, classical museums also find their visitors.
The building, which today houses the Press Museum in St. Petersburg, appeared in the late XIX - early XX centuries. In 1905, during the period of large-scale changes in the country, when as a result of the first Russian revolution the demand for the printed word sharply increased, an outbuilding was added to the building, in which the printing house was located.
For several years, the newspaper "Rus" was printed in these walls, adhering to Slavophil positions. And during the Great October Revolution, it was in this printing house that the famous Pravda was published, the issue of which was directed by Vladimir Lenin himself.
And although from the point of view of communist ideology, the building was of great importance, the Museum of Printing appeared in it relatively recently. In 1984. During perestroika, it became part of the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg. Let's take a virtual walk through it.
What is special about the print museum?
All year round the Museum of Printing can please visitors with three permanent exhibits. Moreover, two of them are directly related to the printing business. But the third is the "Music Salon". This exhibition demonstrates the standard furnishings and decoration of the dwelling of the classical Petersburg music lover of the late XIX - early XX centuries.
Moreover, every Sunday, employees of the cultural institution arrange an unusual and eventful excursion for visitors. They go hiking in the adjoining historic quarters of the Northern capital. The tour ends with an examination of the composition in the museum itself.
History of Printing
But the exhibition "History of Printing" is directly related to the development of domestic book production. It tells in detail about the work of printing houses and publishing houses in the city on the Neva in the XVIII century.
The exhibits are located in special rooms, the interiors that are more reminiscent of the decoration of an old Russian reading room. Visitors can personally see newspapers, magazines and documents of those times, printed in the first printing houses of St. Petersburg. Imagine how the first printing presses worked, on which the Vedomosti newspaper was printed. It is worth remembering that the work of the typographer at that time was personally mastered by Peter I.
Printing houses in the 20th century
The second permanent exhibition, which can be accessed by coming to the museum of printing and printing, is "Publishing and printing at the beginning of the XX century." Here are all kinds of things that were used at that time by book publishers and printers.
These are furniture, stationery of those times, newspapers and books printed on machines of the beginning of the 20th century.
The exposition is located in a former printing house. Its interior has not undergone virtually any changes since the 1900s. Here you can see the unique printing equipment. Types of cash, typography, real machines and presses. Everything that was necessary for the printing house at that time.
Music Salon
Another permanent exhibition is The Music Salon. It is located immediately in two museum rooms. Here you can see firsthand what the apartment buildings were at that time, at the beginning of the 20th century. The Museum of Printing (St. Petersburg) provides a unique opportunity to touch the real elements of the interior of the beginning of the last century, the musical instruments of the St. Petersburg music lover.
The best apartment building apartments at that time were located in the mezzanine. They could afford to rent exclusively wealthy residents of St. Petersburg. The apartment in which the music salon is located has a historical layout. Everything is as it was a hundred-odd years ago. The rooms are the same size, things are in the same places.
Two rooms accommodate two apartments - a living room and an office. At that time, most Petersburgers, whom we would now classify as middle class, managed such housing.
Where is the museum?
Do you want to visit the Museum of Printing in St. Petersburg? The address of this institution is 32 Moika Embankment. The easiest way to get there by public transport is from the Admiralteyskaya metro station.
Entrance ticket is quite inexpensive - only 150 rubles. For students, schoolchildren and senior citizens discounts are provided. They will pay only 100 rubles for entry. The weekly Sunday walking tour, which ends with a visit to the exposition, is completely free. You only need to get a ticket at the box office.
The Museum of Printing (St. Petersburg, Moika, 32) is open six days a week. Day off only on Wednesday. Exposition halls open at 11 am. Inspect the collection until 18:30.
Print Museum Reviews
True, it is worth recognizing that not all visitors leave positive reviews about the museum. So, you can find opinions that the biggest minus of the exposition is the inability to get to the old typographic machines. Many visitors complain that they are not even able to really see. The only thing that attracted them to this exposition was the authentic creaky parquet and the very opportunity to visit a real residential building on the Moika embankment.
Other visitors, by contrast, leave exclusively rave reviews. Many manage to get into the spirit of the typography of the past, especially attracting attention are the old windows of an unusual shape, as well as an office with musical instruments. Some people feel special feelings about the cabinet in which Vladimir Lenin once worked. It was in this house that he personally edited the first issues of the newspaper Pravda. In fact, in this small room at that time the fate of a huge country was taking place.
Tourists also note that the museum itself is small. But in order to find out all the stories about his exhibits, it’s better not to buy an ordinary entrance ticket, but to book an excursion with a specialist who will tell you in detail about all the mysteries of printing skills. You can also get acquainted with the life of apartment buildings, with a collection of music lovers of that time.
Sightseeing Walking Tour
Separately, it is worth stopping by a walking tour, which attracts a large number of visitors every Sunday.
It is called "Beyond the threshold of an old apartment." For several hours, tourists and residents of the Northern capital get acquainted with the classic apartment building of the Moika embankment, as well as one of its apartments.
But the tour begins with a tour of the old quarter, in which at the beginning of the 20th century there were a lot of similar establishments. Experienced guides will tell visitors how this ancient district of the city on the Neva developed, how the embankment was built up - in short, the whole history of these places from the 18th century to the present day.
The interiors of an ordinary apartment of a city dweller at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries, as it were, will transfer us at that time. In the exposition you can see pieces of furniture, ordinary trinkets, which for someone many years ago were of great importance.
This fascinating tour ends with a story about the history of printing, which in the 18th-20th centuries developed most rapidly in St. Petersburg. You will have a unique opportunity to get acquainted with the work of the editorial office in pre-revolutionary Russia, to find out how its life was arranged and how the work process went.