Tsarist Russia joined Europe’s museum craze a little late, developing only a few large museums by the time of the Revolution. The USSR later enthusiastically developed museums as educational and propaganda tools. Today, the cities of Eurasia contain surprising numbers of these institutions, both private and publicly funded, and on nearly every subject imaginable. Many of these museums have survived wars, revolutions, and economic and political collapse, often by innovating ways of preserving, funding, and maintaining their collections. For anyone studying history, museum science, literature, art, or nearly any other subject, these places make for fascinating travel and study abroad destinations.
Dedicated to the works and ideas of the Nicholas Roerich and his family, the International Centre of the Roerichs stands out from its famous neighbors (it’s next to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts) in both style and philosophy. Roerich was a widely-travelled painter and free thinker in the artistically and politically turbulent first half […]