(MGU) will be very interesting. It is located in the very center of Moscow and is great for a family visit.

Zoo museum Moscow State University has the second largest collection in Russia and is among the top ten major museums this profile in Europe. It is also a working laboratory for Russian biologists: its scientific funds currently include more than 8 million units. Among its exhibits there are those that are more than 100 years old. Note that all of its exhibits, with a few exceptions, are representatives of modern fauna. The fossil remains of ancient and extinct animals are included in the collection of another,.

Visiting the museum has the strongest impression on children. They gladly enter the unknown world and completely plunge into the atmosphere of new discoveries. For this, the museum has all the conditions: the grouping of exhibits, explanatory plates with them, the work of guides who are passionate about their work, and a host of various events. But even for adults, a trip to this museum becomes a memory of their school childhood. Moreover, the prices in it are low, with the ability to take photographs without restrictions.

Located in an old building of impressive monumental sophistication, the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University has changed very little over the past decades. In its halls, one can feel the spirit of the Soviet times, noticeable both in the organization and maintenance of expositions, and in the condition of the exhibits. Caretakers of the halls, guides, employees, work "not for fear, but for conscience." Such old-fashionedness gives the museum a special charm.

The Zoological Museum of Moscow State University was founded in 1791 at the Imperial Moscow University. It was called at that time the Cabinet of Natural History. During the war with France in 1812, almost all of it burned out and was painstakingly restored. Initially, the Cabinet was planned as a large-scale tutorial for students of the Faculty of Biology, which until 1955 was located in the same building. Almost from the moment of its opening, the museum was accessible to the general public.

Tue*: 10.00 - 18.00 (ticket office until 17.00)
Wed: 10.00 - 18.00 (ticket office until 17.00)
Thu: 13.00 - 21.00 (ticket office until 20.00)
Fri: 10.00 - 18.00 (ticket office until 17.00)
Sat: 10.00 - 18.00 (ticket office until 17.00)
Sun: 10.00 - 18.00 (ticket office until 17.00)

* - Except last Tuesday of the month

Monday, Last Tuesday of the month

From 100 rub. up to 300 rubles depending on the category of the visitor and the visit program.
Photo and video shooting is included in the ticket price.

Standard.

The museum hosts interactive classes, popular science lectures, children's holidays, festivals and birthdays. Works circle of young naturalists.

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Gallery

Selected Reviews

Visitor ratings:

May 2017
Accidentally went ... And did not regret it! Discovered a brand new museum with history and understanding of the world of flora for Russians, since the beginning of interest officially in Russia! Insightful - Visible! Gorgeous room! But a major overhaul in the spirit of the times... It would not hurt to have a virtual immersion in the world of our researchers and their discoveries!

April 2017
I went to this museum solely for emotions. Amazing atmosphere of a real museum from the doorstep. The building of wonderful architecture, extensive exposition. I am glad that the museum has not been touched by some kind of technical upgrade, I am convinced that its charm and uniqueness lies precisely in the authenticity in which it has been preserved.

Decree of the President of the RSFSR of December 18, 1991 N 294 declared the museum a particularly valuable object of the cultural heritage of the country

Television program (Russia, 2007).
Director Evgeny Khmelev.
Artistic director Lev Nikolaev.

Olesya Semenova
“The facade of the Polytechnic Museum is beautiful…”
(in abbreviation, in full - by link title)
"Our Heritage" № 99 2011

The museum building is not just an “external case of an institution”, it is its face, which reflects individual characteristics and distinguishes it from many other similar institutions; it begins the visitor's contact with the museum, it is in itself the most important exhibit, especially in such a museum as the Polytechnic.

The central facade of the Polytechnic Museum with the southern and northern wings. Drawing by I.A. Monighetti.
Archive of the Polytechnic Museum

The building of the Polytechnic is one of the notable buildings in the very center of Moscow, it is an architectural monument, it is mentioned in many architectural dictionaries, reference books, monographs, including in connection with the names of the architects who took part in its design or construction.

Even before the opening of the Polytechnic Exhibition, the IOLEAE Committee (Imperial Society of Natural Science, Anthropology and Ethnography) considered some options for locating the future museum: on the site of the former Mining Administration building on Vozdvizhenka, on the university courtyard opposite the Manezh, on Theater Square.

The solution of the issue accelerated when it was submitted for discussion to the Moscow Duma. According to the Duma commission, “the area intended for such an institution as a museum must meet two conditions: firstly, it must not be remote from the city center for the convenience of visiting it by the public, and secondly, it must be large enough for the possibility of expanding the museum in the future…”. Lubyanskaya Square was proposed as such an area, "having a significant length and close to the central parts of the city."

On February 8, 1872, a decision was made on the gratuitous assignment of the territory on Lubyanka Square necessary for the construction of the building. It was also decided to allocate from the state treasury from 400 to 500 thousand rubles for the future museum.

Initially, the idea of ​​a monumental, multi-storey building, which could constantly grow and increase, and in terms of architecture and style would serve as an adornment of the capital, a monument to the century, seemed attractive. Then, based on the proposal of the President of IOLEAE, Professor A.P. Bogdanov, it was decided to divide the museum fund into two parts, and for its natural history part, arrange pavilions in the first Alexander Garden. The Committee for the arrangement of the museum managed to get the territory in the Alexander Gardens at its disposal, projects were drawn up for buildings for the zoological, agricultural and other "natural" departments of the museum, but the lack of funds did not allow these plans to be implemented. In 1897, the museum returned the territory in the Alexander Garden to the Palace Department.

On June 10, 1874, the Moscow City Duma handed over to the Committee 2,504 square sazhens of land along the stone wall of Kitay-gorod, between Lubyanskaya Square and the Ilyinsky Gate. Thus, the issue of a place for the future building of the museum was resolved.

Due to problems, primarily with financing, the construction took place in three phases. The volume-spatial structure of the building was formed over thirty years.

Central building of the museum. Photograph from the end of the 19th century.
Archive of the Polytechnic Museum

In 1877, the central building was built, ten years later the construction of the southern wing began, and thirty-three years after the start of construction, the construction of the right wing was completed.

South facade of the museum. View from Ilyinskaya Square. Lithograph of the early twentieth century.
Archive of the Polytechnic Museum

As a result, while the general compositional solution of the building, adopted in the original project by I.A. Monighetti, was preserved, stylistic changes arose in the execution of its constituent parts during the construction process. The right side of the building, built in the same, it would seem, traditions of the "Russian style", acquires new features - the compositional elements of the facade are "stretched", decorative elements are reduced, the level of floors is shifted. Left side - bright pattern modern style in its national execution. The asymmetric construction of the composition of the side facades emphasizes the dominant importance of the central building, and the three-part northern facade with a protruding attic reveals the dominant position of the Polytechnical in relation to the surrounding buildings and adequately closes the Lubyanka Square from the south.

On September 9 (September 22, according to the new style), 1904, a short message flashed in the newspaper that “... the laying of the left wing of the Polytechnic Museum building, erected by engineer G.I. Makaev, took place ...” with a large audience. In addition to the premises of the Bolshoi, on the third floor there were two more isolated classrooms for 200 people, the so-called "Small classrooms", as well as chemical and physical laboratories. The meteorological station was located on the top floor. A physiological greenhouse was placed in a glass lantern on the roof. All this is “for the purpose of arranging lectures of an educational order”. Construction stretched until 1908. According to G.E. Medvedeva, other buildings that would have preserved “a genuine laboratory with a fully assembled furnishing complex<имеется в виду лаборатория при химической аудитории XIX века, где готовились демонстрационные реактивы и приборы>, are not known to us

A double-height auditorium, equipped with a ventilation system, covered with a flat ceiling without a single intermediate support, with a light lantern in the center, was built according to the project and under the supervision of engineer A.A. Semenov, and the creation was immediately praised. Although the main engineering and architectural plan, conceived by the author of the project, has remained the same to this day, since 1948 the interiors of the Great Auditorium have been constantly changing. Previously, instead of the current chairs, there were birch benches, on the stage, behind the lecturer's podium, there was a glass chamber (hood) for chemical experiments, and above it was a table depicting Mendeleev's Periodic Table of Elements. In the center of the ceiling there was a glazed space measuring 8x4 meters through which daylight fell. The total area of ​​the Auditorium was 122.8 square sazhens, it had 842 numbered and 60 unnumbered seats. The cost of the complete equipment was 50,000 rubles. The first lecture was given on October 11, 1907 by the People's University Society.

The listeners immediately appreciated the impeccable acoustics, the calculations of which were carried out by A.A. Semenov. Professor D.N. Anuchin noted in a report for 1910 that "the new Large Auditorium of the Polytechnic Museum is the best auditorium in Moscow." The Committee of the Polytechnic Museum decided in honor of the authors of the project to place a memorial plaque in the auditorium with the inscription: “The auditorium was built in 1907-1908 according to the project and under the supervision of engineer Anatoly Aleksandrovich Semenov, with the closest cooperation of architect I.P. Mashkov, Z.I. Ivanov and railway engineer N.A. Alekseev. For his work on the arrangement of the Large Auditorium of the Polytechnic Museum, he was awarded the rank of a Full State Councilor. Semyonov also headed the specially created Commission of the Polytechnic Museum, which followed the construction of the left wing.

Alas, neither this memorial plaque, nor the memory of the State Councilor Semyonov has survived. Meanwhile, the contribution of this military engineer to the creation of the Polytechnic Museum and, as we shall see later, museum work in Moscow in general, is enormous.

It is customary to mention the names of architects in guidebooks and specialized literature, but the engineers who created architectural monuments along with them are not always remembered. Alexey Semenov(1841-1917) was born in the Vyatka province, first studied at the Konstantinovsky military school, then graduated from the first category at the Nikolaev Engineering Academy, and later worked in the engineering department of the Moscow Military District. During the first seven years he was awarded three awards: the Order of St. Stanislaus, 3rd and 2nd degrees, and the Order of St. Anne, 3rd degree. In the summer of 1871, he retired and took part in the organization of the Sevastopol department of the Polytechnic Exhibition. Memories of the Crimean War of 1853-1856 were then fresh, and the idea arose to “present as complete a picture of the glorious defense of Sevastopol as possible, both in combat and in military-sanitary terms, and thereby spread among the people a correct understanding of that memorable era.” The pavilion of the Sevastopol department was not inferior to the Marine one and was located in the Kremlin on the square in front of the Nikolaevsky Palace. Back in December 1871, the chief organizer of the department, N.I. Chepelevsky, put forward the idea of ​​​​creating a permanent repository for the materials collected for the Sevastopol department - the Russian National Museum: “This temple, erected to the glory of the age-old life of the Russian people,” he wrote in a report presented to the Tsarevich, - must bring together from all over the land of the Russian cherished shrines of the people, monuments and documents of the entire Russian state, depict in images and pictures the names of great ascetics and figures and remarkable events. And already on February 9, 1872, the emperor ordered the construction of one in Moscow, which became the Historical Museum. The architect V.O. Sherwood believed that “the moment of clear popular consciousness is coming, and our entire future depends on this moment. The people need a clearly embodied image of their own feeling, you need an ideal to strive for. The building of the Historical Museum also had to meet this historical need. “It is necessary to build in Russia the Russian way!”

A.A. Semenov actively participated in this construction. His later works: the temple in the name of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk in Sokolnichya Grove (1875, re-creation; the original unsurvived project of P.P. Zykov); Petrovsky-Alexandrovsky Boarding House of the Nobility (since 1945 - N.N. Burdenko Research Institute of Neurosurgery); a residential building (ibid.) for doctors and educators with an infirmary; the main building (in the same place) with a church in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (all these buildings were built in the early 1900s) and many others.

In addition to the block of premises belonging to the Large Auditorium (entrance, lobby, stairs, "cloakrooms"), the rest of the area of ​​the wing was occupied by retail premises. A double-height passage was arranged along the transverse axis connecting Bolshoy Lubyansky and Kitaysky passages, that is, shop windows and windows of the first and mezzanine floors opened onto it. From the passage there was a free exit to both lanes. However, according to the terms of development in the entire complex of the building, the basement, first and mezzanine floors were leased for retail space.

North facade of the Polytechnic Museum

The street facades of the Polytechnic Museum have retained their original decor and have come down to our time only with minor changes due to the liquidation of commercial premises.

Detail of the central facade

Soviet-era lanterns that fit into the northern façade

Initial studies of the color solutions of the facades showed that they were not monochrome as they are today, and the wall surfaces were a combination of white and ocher colors. Experts believe that a more complex coloration is also likely, characteristic of both the modern era and the eclectic era. On the facade of the northern wing, in three archivolts, one can see the damaged by time, but fortified and mothballed monumental painting. Researchers attribute its draft design to the architect Prince G.I.

Fresco triptych in the archivolts of the northern façade

The triptych was made in the fresco technique, which, generally speaking, is characteristic of the Art Nouveau era, but did not take root in Moscow: here, majolica was more often used in facades. So the fresco on the facade of the northern wing of the Polytechnic is the rarest monument.

Watercolor sketches of these frescoes without the signature of the author are stored in the department of written sources of the Polytechnic Museum. They symbolize the poetics of human labor in the images of a peasant plowing a field and two workers in a forge, as well as knowledge, which is personified by a book in the hands of a child in a family group against the backdrop of the rays of the rising sun. With a certain probability, it can be argued that the artist Ilya Pavlovich Mashkov, the brother of the architect Ivan Pavlovich Mashkov, who participated in the design of the Great Auditorium, took part in the creation of the frescoes.

The main staircase occupies an important place in the interior of the museum. Initially, it "was supposed to consist of four marches leading only 1 floor<аж>, and from 2 floor<ажа>there are two special stairs to the upper one, but due to unforeseen circumstances this staircase was replaced by a more luxurious one, but not very comfortable for walking.” Only a sketch of the lamps has survived today. front staircase with Shokhin's autograph and a section of the stairs, signed by him, but not a single signed drawing could be found. The main staircase is decorated with decorative elements symbolizing ancient Russian forms.

Gypsum balusters of the main staircase

The architectural and decorative design of the central building has been preserved in the lobbies; in the exhibition halls, the walls and ceilings are decorated with profiled rods, geometric stucco ornaments, and stucco plafonds.

Museum interiors

There is a system of various vaults; semicircular at the top of two - and four-leaf doors with original ornaments in panels and brass handles-brackets; stairs with cast iron balusters of complex shape; curly stair railings; cast-iron steps and railings of spiral staircases; flooring (tiles, parquet, metal plates, metlakh tiles); tiled stoves; furniture; mirrors. The interiors of the Polytechnic Museum suffered the most in areas that were not used for museum purposes. “When clearing the walls under 20-25 layers of paint, the original finish was found - gypsum plaster, which has a specific impregnation that makes it look like artificial marble. Very finely graduated colors were superimposed on top of it. A similar paint system is yet to be explored. As for the stairs themselves, the first clearing of the handrails showed the presence of artificial marble here.

Not only the unique collections that visitors see, but almost all the elements that make up the internal spaces of the museum - walls, floors, stairs, ceiling lamps, lamps - are genuine exhibits. And even if, as a result of the upcoming reconstruction of the museum, they cannot be preserved in their places due to natural decay, their samples can be included in the fund of the now, alas, non-existent, but former in the early twentieth century, the Museum's Architectural Department.

The architectural department of the museum. Photo of the end of the 20th century.
Archive of the Polytechnic Museum

In addition to the well-known ones, the Polytechnic Museum has many internal staircases that are inaccessible to visitors, and all of them are not similar to each other. For example, at the stairs in the basement, even the simplest marches are monumental: painted castings, dolomite steps, columns with cubic capitals - these are stylistic Russian-Byzantine elements that run through many rooms of the museum.

Railings and balusters of painted cast iron museum stairs

Unique plaster floor lamps of the main staircase

Until very recently, the floor lamps of the main staircase were painted with white paint, which is familiar to modern visitors. Today, they appear in the appropriate style of bright vestments, as the restorers believe, they were conceived. Studies have shown that floor lamps were made of gypsum, which is unprecedented for objects of decorative and applied art of the late 19th century.

The original glass shades have been preserved in the interiors; ceramic floors and parquet, made of split oak. There are rare items Soviet period, quite successfully inscribed in historical interiors.

For a long time, the building of the Polytechnic Museum was not paid due attention. It was only in the late 1990s that it was included in the list of newly identified objects. cultural heritage. “The Polytechnic is a contemporary of the Historical Museum. But if the building of the latter is generally recognized as a unique architectural monument of federal significance, then, as for the Polytechnic, only its Large Auditorium has the federal status of a monument.

Large auditorium of the Polytechnic Museum

The Polytechnic Museum is one of the first public buildings in Russia, the interior and exterior decoration of which was made in the Russian style. He opened a whole series of buildings of this kind in the center of Moscow. The Architect's Companion to Moscow for 1895 reported: “One can hope that the revival of Russian architecture, begun by Moscow, will continue and gradually progress; first of public buildings built in the Russian style are the Polytechnic and Historical museums, later theaters Korsh and Paradise, City Council, Upper and Middle City Trade Rows”.

I would like to quote the absolutely fair words of I.P. Mashkov related to the architecture of the capital in the last decades of the 19th century: “During the period under review, Moscow significantly changed its physiognomy, due to the many new buildings that appeared, both public and private. In this relatively short time, some parts of the city became completely unrecognizable; by the way, several grandiose buildings appeared, which, in terms of their significance and size, are among the outstanding buildings of Europe.

One of them - the building of the Polytechnic Museum on Lubyanka Square - even today visibly testifies to the talent and high professionalism of domestic architects who managed to late XIX- early twentieth century to decorate ancient city a wonderful architectural monument that requires care and attention from us, the people of the 21st century.

PS:
In the next six years, the museum building is planned to be substantially rebuilt. It will be taken over by the Japanese architect Junio ​​Ishigami, who won the design competition in October last year.
More - cultural place
"Arguments of the week", 05.04.2012

There are different museums in Moscow. The Zoological Museum attracts a large number of visitors every day. It will appeal to adults and children of all ages. It should be visited by everyone and the tourist who came to admire the capital of Russia.

For nature lovers

The Zoological Museum in Moscow will not leave indifferent those visitors who love nature. Initially, upon opening (1791), this institution was given the name "Cabinet of Natural History". Then it belonged to the Moscow Imperial University.

Ordinary citizens got the opportunity to visit the museum and get acquainted with its expositions in 1866, i.e. 75 years after its inception. In 1902, a complex of buildings was erected (designed by architect K.M. Bykovsky), of which the museum became a part. The buildings of the institutes (Botanical and Zoological), which were also built in this quarter after many years, were converted into buildings of the Faculty of Psychology of Moscow State University.

Building exterior

It is easy to see that the design of the monumental building of the Zoological Museum contains classical motifs; the authors used three-dimensional images (bas-reliefs) on the walls as decorations. Attracted by his appearance all tourists Zoological Museum in Moscow. Photos of the institution were used to design guidebooks and advertise the sights of the capital.

After Soviet power was established in the country, the museum changed its status again, it was attached to the Moscow state university as one of the divisions of the Faculty of Biology.

Finally, when radical transformations (perestroika) took place in the USSR, which eventually led to its collapse, the museum also received the status of an independent institution - a research institute.

Exposure

Almost all representatives of the fauna are reflected in the museum expositions. At one time, there were skeletons of fossil animals here, but one day a reasonable decision was made that it would be better to give them to the Paleontological Museum. They left only the remains of a mammoth. In the scientific auxiliary fund of the museum, zoologists have excellent conditions for working with stuffed animals and maintaining these exhibits in a normal condition. Thanks to the efforts of the museum staff, stuffed animals almost do not differ from living wild animals in the natural environment. Among such a class of sights as museums in Moscow, the Zoological Museum has a special status. He is loved by children and their parents.

A strict scientifically based system can be traced in the arrangement of the exhibits, i.e. they are all arranged, distributed in accordance with the classes and orders that exist in the animal world. The Lower, Upper and Bone Halls of the museum contain the following zoological collections:

• The class of invertebrates and arachnids, which, in particular, are represented by interesting collections of mollusks and spiders that cause conflicting feelings, is 1.5 million in total.
• Amazing butterflies are of interest. In total - about 4 million copies.
• Amphibians and reptiles.
• A class of fish, the collection of which contains slightly fewer specimens than the analogous one in the Academy of Sciences.
• Bird class, the collection is in second place in the country in terms of number.
• Class Mammals.

Basically, the exhibits - over 7 thousand - are concentrated in the showcases of the halls. There are a small number of specimens in the museum's storerooms that are used exclusively for rental purposes, for example, they participate as characters in the filming of films or are shown on traveling exhibitions. The Zoological Museum in Moscow regularly replenishes its collections. Therefore, it is not boring there.

Educational excursions

Museum visitors have the opportunity to choose how best to get acquainted with the exhibits. Some of them, slowly, walk around and examine everything around, others decide that it is better to use the service of a guide. In the latter case, much more interesting information can be obtained. For some time now, visitors have been given the opportunity to capture what they see in the photo, although the lighting of the premises is not very conducive to this. In the Darwin Museum, excursions are no less exciting, which are conducted in an interactive form, in addition, you can admire animal mummies. Museums in Moscow are developing with rapid force.

Zoological offers many thematic excursions, most of which are designed for students. Information is not only interesting in itself. It can supplement the educational material, including the courses “Birds of the forest, taiga”, “ Animal world Australia", "Beasts of the Moscow Region". Pupils of elementary grades listen with genuine interest to the stories of the guides on the topic "Animals in Kipling's fairy tales." Most of the children watched the cartoon "Mowgli" and read a book about this character.

The museum has a Biolecture. Cognitive material will broaden the horizons of school students who study biology in depth. All schools are trying to encourage their students to visit museums in Moscow. Zoological teachers love biology and anatomy.

Going to museums is not only an interesting time spent. It is better to see stuffed animals with your own eyes once (it’s a pity that you can’t pet them), to hear fascinating stories from the lips of a guide than, for example, to look at pictures on monitors or TV screens many times.

Address of the Zoological Museum

According to statistics, more than 200 thousand visitors manage to visit the museum every year. It is located at st. Bolshaya Nikitskaya, 6 (next to the Lermontov House-Museum and the Tsvetaeva House-Museum). To do this, you need to take the metro to the Lenin Library or Okhotny Ryad station. Then turn in the direction of Mokhovaya Street and walk only a quarter until Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street appears.

Be sure to visit this exhibition when you are in Moscow. Address (Museum "Zoological") - st. e.6. Ticket price: 50-250 rubles.

At Russian Academy sciences, there is a Zoological Museum, which is the largest in our country both in terms of the occupied territory and in terms of the volume of funds. The second place is firmly held by a similar institution at Moscow State University. The Zoological Museum is not one of the ten largest institutions of its kind in the world.

Famous patrons of Russia

The history of its creation is as follows. In 1802, the state issued an appeal for donations for education. Among the first to respond was the learned naturalist and philanthropist Pavel G. Demidov (1739-1821), a descendant of a famous dynasty. His ascetic activity is very extensive - in 1803, at his own expense, he opened a school of higher sciences, which bore his name until 1919. At the same time, he donates funds in the amount of 100,000 rubles, an extensive library and the natural science collection he collected during his travels around the world to the future Moscow State University. The zoological museum will come into being thanks to these donations. In addition, in 1805, P. G. Demidov transferred to the Moscow University the Mintz Cabinet, which contained the richest collections (several thousand) of medals and coins. These treasures later formed the main fund of the “Natural History Cabinet” formed earlier, in 1791.

Professional approach

In 1755, by decree of the Empress, the Imperial Moscow University - MGU was founded. The Zoological Museum is 36 years younger, which does not prevent it from being considered one of the oldest natural science organizations. He is 215 years old.

After the funds of the “Cabinet of Natural History” were significantly replenished through the efforts of the patron P. G. Demidov, it became necessary to systematize them. This responsible business was entrusted to the already well-established (compiled an inventory of a similar office in Paris) Russian naturalist G. I. Fischer ( full name- Grigory Ivanovich (Johann Gottgelf, Gotthelf) Fischer von Waldheim, years of life - 1771-1853). G. I. Fischer, the author of the dissertation “On the Breath of Animals”, a student and follower, rejected the proposal of the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, who invited him to systematize his “natural history cabinet”, and remained in Moscow, in the future of Moscow State University. The Zoological Museum was created by his efforts.

Ascetic activity

In 1806-1807 he made the first inventory of all collections, including coins and medals. As you know, in 1812 Moscow burned. A lot of buildings perished in this fire, the priceless collections of the future Zoological Museum were almost completely destroyed. And the patriot of Russia Grigory Ivanovich Fisher, who managed to save part of the conchological (shells and mollusks) collection during the fire, began to restore the “office”, transferring his own collections, collections and the library to it. Then, using his personal authority and fame in scientific circles, he turned to natural scientists and curators of private collections with a request to help in the restoration of the lost museum, the revival of which could already be discussed in 1814. The second inventory, done by G. I. Fisher, was completed in 1822, and its data were published. Simultaneously with the systematization of funds, a zoological collection was allocated, and a new museum at the university was created only on its basis. By 1830, thanks to the selfless activity of G. I. Fisher, the number of exhibits reaches 25 thousand items.

Necessary reorganization

The next improvement was carried out already in 1860. Then all the funds of the museum were divided into educational, scientific and exposition. For visitors, the future Zoological Museum of Moscow State University. Lomonosov opened in 1866. Of course, throughout the years of its existence, it has developed dynamically, and by the end of the century, the premises allocated for it became cramped. And therefore, in 1989-1902, a new specialized three-story building was built for the museum according to the design of the academician, hereditary architect K. M. Bykovsky, at that time the chief architect of Moscow University. He built university buildings on Bolshaya Nikitskaya, in addition to the Zoological Museum, K. M. Bykovsky erected a library and buildings of several faculties.

The most beautiful building, made in the classical style, is located in the heart of the capital. The nearest metro stations are “Biblioteka im. Lenin" and "Okhotny Ryad". The museum moved to it from the old building on Mokhovaya. After moving public museum becomes only in 1911.

In 1930, the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University in Moscow was given to the Faculty of Biology. A major reorganization took place in the 1990s. After all the ordeals, the museum acquires an independent status. To date, its scientific funds reach several million units.

It is visited by up to 150,000 people a year, the number of excursions conducted during the same time reaches 1,700. More refined and extensive information on each type of scientific collections is widely available. Three well-equipped viewing rooms are given to visitors - two on the first floor, one (Bone Hall) - on the second. All collections are arranged according to species proximity, from protozoa to vertebrates.

Serious scientific research

The Research Zoological Museum of Moscow State University is doing serious work - it studies and systematizes knowledge about animals in general, about modern ones in particular. Therefore, out of 10 million exhibits, only 8 are exhibited, among which there are unique representatives of the world fauna, for example, the largest and heaviest goliath beetle and hundreds of other one-of-a-kind specimens. It is not surprising that Muscovites start visiting this museum at a very young age - they come here with their one-year-old children and are satisfied with the tour. The Zoological Museum, which is mostly positive, is really very good, keeping up with the times, providing all the "chips" that can attract and interest as many visitors as possible. And extraordinary people work here as guides. But always when visiting any museum in the world, there are people who think that the guides speak quietly, and the exhibits are covered with dust. The photo shows that this is not the case.

Ticket prices, reviews, interesting facts

You can be convinced of the colorfulness and high level of the collections by visiting the museum. Ticket price - only 100 rubles for a child as part of an excursion group of at least 20 people. For an adult with excursion service - 250 rubles, without an excursion - 200. There is a flexible system of benefits, free days for special categories of citizens and one free night per year.

Periodic exhibitions are very interesting. Some visitors buy tickets in advance with advance payment. It remains to add a few interesting facts - for some time in the apartment of Professor A. N. Severtsev, located in the museum building, who was the founder of the evolutionary morphology of animals, Marina Tsvetaeva lived. And he himself served as a prototype for the hero of the "Fatal Eggs" by M. A. Bulgakov.