Saint Peterburg

The beautiful city of Saint Peterburg (most westerners calls it Saint Petersburg) is most important in the Russian history art, music and architecture. It was the place were the most important Russian composers, such as Borodin, Mussorgsky, and Tchaikovsky, composed their premier works and lectured in the Conservatoire of Music of Saint Peterburg.

The Musical Instruments Collection (in Zubov Palace) was founded in 1902 and is located in the historic center of St. Peterburg. The collection exhibits Russian folk instruments and some exotic instruments from Japan, China, Siberia, Indonesia, and Africa.

The Rimsky-Korsakov Memorial Museum (28, Zagorodny Str.) was inaugurated in 1969 where the great composer spent the last 15 years of his life. Here he composed many of his greatest works. On Wednesdays there is music in the museum and visitors can enjoy a cup of tea in the dining room of Rimsky-Korsakov.

Opera lovers can visit the museum here, devoted to the great artist and opera singer, Fyodor Chalyapin. In the Chalyapin Memorial Apartment visitors can see many of his personal belongings, a collection of his own drawings and portraits.

In the State Hermitage which ranks among the world’s most outstanding art museums, you will see some musical paintings we show you in MusiXCool©, such as the "The Lute Player" painted by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio and the "Concert of Women".

A few of the most important Russian composers and musicians are buried in the Alexander Nevskii Monastery cemetary in Saint Peterburg. Among them Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, and Mussorgsky.