Surprises are an inevitable part of life. But there is no need to despair when circumstances are beyond your control. Focus on what you can do in the situation at hand. So: quarantine. A necessary measure to protect our lives. It is also a wonderful opportunity to visit almost anywhere in the world virtually. Which means that travel goes on.
Where did you not get the chance to go? Which museum did you miss? Or perhaps you put off visiting the people closest to you?
Let’s change that, because we live in a world where there is so much to discover. And you do not even need to leave home to do it.
Entire virtual tours are available for armchair travellers. Today, let’s explore some of Russia’s most fascinating museums, all without leaving the sofa.
Perhaps Russia’s best-known museum, and one of the world’s largest art museums. It is famous not only for its collections, but also for the magnificent buildings that house them. The State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg can be explored endlessly. This vast complex includes the Winter Palace, the Reserve House, the Small, Great and New Hermitage buildings, and the Hermitage Theatre. There are so many rooms that you could visit one a day for an entire year. Naturally, you will not be able to see them all virtually. But thanks to an imaginative campaign by Apple, its Russian YouTube channel released a five-hour, nineteen-minute walking tour of the Hermitage, filmed on a smartphone. The promotion of a new product gave more people the chance to see at least forty-five rooms and nearly six hundred works of art. The video has already been watched by more than half a million viewers. Join them. Adjust the playback speed or choose your favourite rooms from the preview. There are no limits, and the format is wonderfully convenient. The museum’s own channel also features individual videos. Be warned: it may prove even more addictive than your favourite series.
Another Russian museum sure to capture your interest is the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. The museum website offers a virtual introduction to artistic masterpieces. Google technology used for the tour lets you feel as if you are standing in every gallery room, looking around and moving closer to each painting, all in 3D. The gallery also periodically hosts virtual exhibitions devoted to specific themes, including full live-streamed guided tours that are not yet possible to attend in person. Although new live streams have been paused, the Tretyakov Gallery website still offers plenty of engaging projects to enjoy.
It is a pity that virtual museum experiences have not yet become more widespread. However, there is another place in Moscow where you can take your time exploring truly unusual exhibits. The mysterious “bad apartment” invites virtual guests to discover the life of Mikhail Bulgakov and the characters from his works. Fans of The Master and Margarita will find it especially intriguing to look inside the place where the “foreigner” stayed after sending Stepan Likhodeyev to Yalta: Apartment No. 50, the Mikhail Bulgakov Museum. The extraordinary work of this gifted writer attracts countless admirers, while its air of the unexplained draws visitors behind the scenes to discover how the prophetic books that remain relevant today came into being.
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The Peter the Great Botanic Garden in Saint Petersburg also invites you not to miss the azaleas in bloom. Video tours and live broadcasts can be found on its official social media pages. While it may not be entirely accurate to call this Northern Capital attraction a museum, you can still enjoy the beauty of nature’s creations, carefully preserved by people, by joining the garden staff as they film their videos.
Another famous Saint Petersburg museum, the Kunstkamera, is keeping up with the times and offers its own virtual tour.
Climb the stairs, listen to information about a selected exhibit, and take a closer look. You can now fulfil the wish of Peter the Great, who wanted people to observe and learn, and who created this “temple of science”, which opened in its full form after the tsar’s death. Once, visitors queued to enter the Kunstkamera; today, you can visit it in virtual space.
The next destination is the masterpieces of the Russian Museum. Under one roof, it brings together works of art from past eras and contemporary artists. There is not just one virtual tour, but several. You can explore the permanent collection in detail or browse temporary exhibitions previously held at the museum on its website.
The online programme of the Peterhof Museum-Reserve is constantly updated.
Watch a live stream from the Grand Cascade, see the park from a height of three hundred metres, or discover the key events in the history of the Grand Peterhof Palace through interactive activities. It is a varied pastime that the whole family can enjoy.
Poetry lovers can visit Anna Akhmatova’s apartment and see where and how the poet lived for thirty years. You can learn about another poet, Joseph Brodsky, at his museum. Videos and a wealth of fascinating information about him and his contemporaries are available through the Brodsky.online project.