Greetings, dear visitors and residents of St. Petersburg! We are pleased to offer you an interesting and unusual guided tour that will introduce you to the unique buildings and works of art in the collection of the Russian Museum.Palaces and parks containing brilliant architectural ensembles, each of which is original and completely independent, can be found in a vast area of more than 70 acres between Nevsky Prospect and the Fontanka, Moyka and Neva rivers. They were created at different times by great architectural geniuses of the 18th-19th centuries, most of whom were of Italian origin. Today, these unique historical monuments have been combined into a museum complex, and include within their confines the extensive collection of the Russian Museum.The history of Russia's first state museum of national art began in 1895 with the special decree of Emperor Nicholas II, in which he decided to establish the Russian Museum and ordered that the building of the Mikhailovsky Palace and it surrounding grounds be given over for this purpose. Three years later, the grand ducal seat of the Mikhailovsky Palace solemnly opened its doors to its first visitors. At this point, the collections of the new museum contained only about 2,000 paintings, sculptures, drawings, watercolors, and icons, transferred from the Academy of Fine Arts Museum, the Hermitage, imperial country palaces, and private collections. By contrast, the modern Russian Museum contains more than 400,000 works of art. It is the world's largest museum of Russian art. Painting, sculpture, graphic art, crafts and folk art, and numismatics can be found in its collection. They reflect every kind of art that developed in Russia from the adoption of Christianity to the present day.The perfect start for a tour of the museum complex is the Mikhailovsky Palace and adjacent Rossi and Benois Wings, which house the main exhibition representing world-famous masterpieces of the Russian art school, ranging from icon painting to late 20th century art.