Kunstkammer

The Kunstkammer became “one of the most prominent structures of the capital” . The original building was built for many reasons, the main one being that Peter needed a place to hold his collections and library. Also, he wanted an anatomical theater, and an observatory in Russia, the first of its kind. The idea of having the Kunstkammer as a museum (the first in Russia) was devised in 1714 . The building of the Kunstkammer began in 1718, the first design was devised by a man named Mattarnovy. Finally in 1734 it was built under the guidance of Herbel, Chiaveri, and Zemtsov . The original idea was to have the Kunstkammer hold Peter’s cabinet of curiosities and to house and examine live human curiosities. However, this was task was not completed until after Peters death. While Peter was alive his collection was kept in the Kikin Palace. However, once his curiosities were moved to the Kunstkammer they remained there for over one hundred years, along with various art collections, libraries, scientific exhibitions, and archaeological displays . In the mid nineteenth century a horrific fire destroyed the original Kunstkammer, and it was rebuilt by Savva Chevakinsky. The new building consisted of two identical blocks (wings) joined by a five story tower in the center. “The relatively complex volumes and rich decoration make the Kunstkammer the most baroque edifice in St. Petersburg to have survived from the era of Peter the Great” .

Sources for this page

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http://www.saint-petersburg-hotels.com/kunstkamera.htm “Museums of St. Petersburg”. Optima Worldwide Corp .2000. 31 March 2003.

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Dmitri Shvidkovsky. St. Petersburg: Architecture of the Tsars. Abbeville Press Publishers: NY, London. Paris.1996.42