The Kunstkammer

An early example of Russian architecture in the first third of the 18th century, The Kunstkammer was originally to have housed the first Russian museum, a library, the Academy of Sciences, an anatomy class and astronomical observatory. It was built between 1718 and 1734 by Nikolai Herbel, Gaetano Chiaveri, Georg Johann Mattarnovi and Mikhail Zemtsov. In 1747 it was damaged by fire and restored by Sabbas Chevakinsky. The peaked superstructure of the Kunstkammer tower, however, was re-created only in the course of restoration work in 1947-48.
The museum’s ethnographic collections are devoted to the history, economy, architecture and artistic handicrafts of the people of Asia, Africa,
America and Australia. Almost all the collections were brought to St. Petersburg by the well-known Russian explorers of the 19th century Voznesensky, Lisiansky, Krusenstern, Kotzebue, Lutke and Lazarev. A place apart belongs to the collection brought by the outstanding Russian scientist and explorer Miklukho-Maklai who was a staff member of the museum.