Russian Art Tour

9 am your private guide will geet you at the lobby of your hotel or port terminal to invite you to explore the unique and authentic world of Russian art while you are here, in Russia!

Start the day with the tour which gives a complete and comprehensive understanding of Russian art, its development and history, full of dramatic twists. Russian art is a unique phenomenon as it has successfully covered the huge gap in between European secular art of Enlightenment and the medieval religious art of Moskovian Rus in 1,5 centuries only! Although the very first secular pictures and sculptures appeared in Russia not until Peter the Great's times (18th cent.) and were quite awkward, Russian Academy of Fine Arts managed to achieve the same level with the European Academies by the middle of the 19th century, and eventually came to the very foreground of European avant-garde in the beginning of the 20th century.

10 am Russian Museum, opened by Nicholas II in honor of his father, is the best place to trace the development of Russian art from the medieval icons to the works of Malevich (whose famous Black Square is here on display), Roerich, Vrubel, Nesterov, Filonov and many others. The Russian Museum has more than 400 000 items of Russian art on display, that is why we name it “Russian Louvre”.

12 00-13 00 Break for optional lunch

13 30-14 00 Kazansky Cathedral, built "of Russian materials and by a Russian architect", as the donator insisted. In the second half of the 19th century, the cathedral converted to the wedding place for Russian Emperors and members of the Romanovs' family. Today it is the main center of religious life for local people.

14 00-15 00 Savior on the Spilt Blood (Resurrection) Cathedral, decorated by more, than 7000 m2 of mosaics, which were made after the design of 32 famous Russian artists; or the recently restored Dormition Church, richly painted on gold from inside.

15 00-16 00 Museum of Russian Theatre and Ballet (situated at the Russian Academy of Ballet) visit;

Russian Academy of Fine Arts visit (on request);

Subway ride (optional), as Russian subway is considered the most opulent and one of the richest in the world;

18 00 Return to the hotel/port terminal

NOTE: Your guide may change the sequence of sightseeing, depending on museums occupancy, days off, traffic and other circumstances. Please do not be concerned. You will see all the sights mentioned in your itinerary.