The State Museum of the Political History of Russia is the successor to the Revolution Museum. It is housed in two historic buildings of the modern era: the mansions of the ballerina Matilda​ Kshesinskaya, and baron Brandt. The exposition ‘Man and Power in Russia in the XIX-XXI Centuries’ is devoted to the relationship between man and the state at the crucial moments in the history of the country. The period of the revolution is presented in the exposition ‘The Revolution in Russia. 1917-1922’. The exposition ‘The Soviet Epoch: Between Utopia and Reality’ reveals images of that time – Stalin, Khrushchev and Brezhnev – presented in documents, things, and reconstructed interiors.
The main expositions are so large that it is better to split the visit into two days. And get ready – you'll have to read a lot. At the same time the Museum is full of immersive technologies: touch screens, projections, objects, sounds, voices, and the only thing missing is smell. If you pick up the phone, you will hear Stalin's voice, and if you stand up in the middle of the display with windows, you will hear and see Tolstoy.
The exposition ‘Matilda Kshesinskaya: Fouettes of Fate’ tells the story of the mistress of the mansion. It is a romantic and, now, such a scandalous story of one famous woman and Russian history that was so cruel to her.
Our tip: Take an audio-pen and a museum map not to go astray. English, German and Spanish.
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Venue Info

Location

Location

Ul. Kuibysheva 2-4 (entrance from Kronversky pr.)
St.Petersburg
Tickets

Tickets

Admission 250Rbl.
Phone

Phone

(+7) 812 233 70 52
Website


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Comments

Lance Grundy

10. 3. 2026

For me, this was one of the most interesting museums I have ever been to and it should be on the to-do list of anyone visiting St Petersburg who is interested in the Russian Revolution or the Soviet Union. In Lenin's office, where history was made, you can peer out from the famous balcony from which he made numerous speeches to the soldiers, sailors and peasants of revolutionary Petrograd. There is also a fascinating 3 room exhibition about the Russian Civil War which has been lavishly furnished by the Russian State Archives and which even includes British Army uniforms and other British equipment captured by the Red Army. Two other exhibitions are also well worth seeing -"Soviet Union: Between Utopia & Reality" and the smaller "Soviet Union: The Final Chapter" in the new atrium wing. Finally, when I visited, the museum was just putting the finishing touches to its latest exhibition "Focus on the Throne" dedicated to the 400th anniversary of the Romanovs. It looked stunning and appeared to be extensively signed in English. If you're visiting in 2013 please make sure you see it.