State Historical Museum

The Historical Museum (1878-83) illustrates the growing preoccupation with Russian history at that time. Through the vehicle of the Archaeological Society, new discoveries had been made and collections amassed which led to the idea of a central museum. Vladimir Sherwood (Shervud in Russian - his father, an English engineer, worked in Russia) won the competition for the facade together with the engineer A. Semyonov. Although inside it has well-lit halls decorated in an interesting neo-Russian manner, its facade, a hodgepodge of ancient Russian motifs in unattractive red brick (Sherwood would have preferred coloured tiles) looks decidedly lugubrious in comparison with the magnificence of St.Basil Cathedral at the other end of the square. Still, it is a stunning museum, which regrettably has been closed for the past seven years for repairs.