KIROV MUSEUM

A branch of the Museum of the History of St. Petersburg
26/28 Kamennoostrovsky prospekt 197101 St. Petersburg
Open: 11am - 6pm, 11am - 5pm Tuesdays and Fridays
Closed: Wednesdays and the last Tuesday of every month
Tel. 346-0289, 346-0217
Nearest metro stations: Petrogradskaya and Gorkovskaya

Sergei Mironovich Kirov (1886-1934) was the head of the Leningrad Communist Party, a member of the Politburo and a secretary of the Party's Central Committee. A museum was created in his honour in 1938. Although it was originally housed in the former mansion of Matilda Kshesinskaya, it was moved in 1956 to its current premises in the building in which Kirov lived from 1926 to 1934 in Apt.No.20 (1911-13, architects Leonty, Albert and Yuri Benois).

Recently, the exhibition was considerably augmented with materials from the museum's newly opened archives and extensive reserves, which contain over 30,000 items.

During the reconstruction, the interiors of the dining-room, library and recreation room (where Kirov kept his tools) were restored to their original state. The furnishings of Kirov's study were transferred from the Smolny Institute. Authentic documents, personal belongings, and commemorative objects describing the life and work of Leningrad's most popular leader of the prewar period are on display in the living guarters. A special section sheds light on the circumstances surrounding Kirov's assassination on 1 December 1934.