State Historical Museum

The State Historical Museum is Russia's largest national museum of history, located on Red Square in Moscow, right beside the Kremlin walls. It was founded by decree of Emperor Alexander II in February 1872 and named in honor of the heir to the throne, Tsesarevich Alexander Alexandrovich — the future Emperor Alexander III. The idea of creating the museum had been discussed among the Russian intelligentsia since the mid-19th century, and the occasion for its realization was the success of the Polytechnic Exhibition held to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Peter I, among whose exhibits were a considerable number of archaeological finds and historical relics that required permanent storage.

The museum's organization was overseen by a commission of scholarly historians headed by Count Alexei Uvarov, which included Ivan Zabelin, Sergei Solovyov, Vasily Klyuchevsky, and others; Uvarov's personal collection formed the basis of the museum's holdings. The building's design was chosen following an architectural competition in 1875: the winners were Vladimir Shervud and the military engineer Anatoly Semyonov with their project "Fatherland," executed in the Russian style and echoing the silhouette of Saint Basil's Cathedral. An old building on Red Square that had once served as the town hall and housed Russia's first university was demolished to make way for the construction. The ceremonial laying of the museum's foundation took place on 1 September 1875 in the presence of Tsesarevich Alexander, and the first stone of the building's foundation was laid personally by Alexander II. Construction, which Shervud oversaw for seven years, was completed in 1883.

The irregularly shaped rectangular building, covering a footprint of 6,500 square meters, was built with borrowed funds: the museum spent 28 years repaying the loan to the Moscow Credit Society. Today the museum's holdings number more than 5 million objects and 14 million sheets of documentary material, of which only about 0.5 percent of the collection is on permanent display; the museum receives more than 1.2 million visitors annually. In addition to the main building, the museum association includes Saint Basil's Cathedral, the Museum of the Patriotic War of 1812, the Romanov Chambers in Zaryadye, and the Central Museum of Russian Cossacks. Since 1990 the Historical Museum, together with the entire ensemble of Red Square and the Kremlin, has been included on the UNESCO World Heritage List.