Suvorov Memorial Museum - uVisitRussia
Home Explore Saint Petersburg Suvorov Memorial Museum

Suvorov Memorial Museum

This museum is devoted to one of Russia's most outstanding generals, the military strategist and army commander Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov (1730-1800), who excelled in his service to the state during the reign of Empress Catherine the Great and Emporer Paul I. Suvorov's charismatic personality won him respect and admiration among his troops, a crucial element in helping the general to achieve his military goals. Suvorov rose to fame during the Crimean Wars against Napoleon's France, when he defeated several leading French generals in the challenging terrain of the Alps.his museum is devoted to one of Russia's most outstanding generals, the military strategist and army commander Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov (1730-1800), who excelled in his service to the state during the reign of Empress Catherine the Great and Emporer Paul I. Suvorov's charismatic personality won him respect and admiration among his troops, a crucial element in helping the general to achieve his military goals. Suvorov rose to fame during the Crimean Wars against Napoleon's France, when he defeated several leading French generals in the challenging terrain of the Alps.

Suvorov Memorial Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia is a military museum dedicated to the memory of Generalissimo Alexander Suvorov (1729-1800). It was founded in 1900 to commemorate the century of Suvorov's death and was inaugurated four years later, on the 175th anniversary of Suvorov's birth, with much pageantry, in the presence of Emperor Nicholas II.

In 1904, the museum moved into the present building, purpose-built to a flamboyant design by Alexander von Hohen in a dramatic Russian Revival style. The building's austere appearance derives primarily from medieval Muscovite military architecture. Apart from the Suvorov family coat of arms and signs of military glory, the facade displays two mosaics representing "Suvorov Leaving Russia for Italy in 1799" and "Suvorov Crossing the Alps".

The museum's collections, exceeding 100,000 items in 2002, were acquired through purchase and private donations. The Communist authorities had the museum closed down in 1919 and the collections were dispersed to other museums. In the 1930s, the building housed the AeroMuseum. During the Siege of Leningrad, it was damaged by a bomb.

During World War II the respect of Suvorov was restored in the Soviet military. As a consequence, the museum building was renovated in 1950 and resumed its activity the following year. The latest restoration was undertaken in 1995-2000.