Rumyantsev Mansion in Saint-Petersburg

Near the Blagoveshchensky (Annunciation) Bridge on the English Embankment the Rumyantsev`s Mansion is located, where there are several expositions of the museum of the history of St. Petersburg.

The exhibition «Leningrad in the years of the Great Patriotic War» is in the larger part of the mansion, as well as the exposition «From weekdays to holidays. The sketches of the 30th» telling about the era of NEP (New Economic Policy). Historical interiors of Rumyantsev`s time have been preserved in some rooms.

Portrait of count Rumyantsev, the Chancellor of the Russian Empire

641803 people died in Leningrad from starvation during the blockade

The development of the English Embankment (originally, it was called the Lower Embankment) began in 1715. According to an order of Peter I, the facades of the houses had to overlook the Neva, and entrance arches had to be on the Galernaya Street. In such a way luxurious houses with inner courts and gardens began to appear there. By 1732 most of the houses on the English Embankment were bought up by Englishmen, as under a deal between England and Russia these houses were exempted from taxes. There appeared the English Club and the English Theatre, and the Lower Embankment was renamed the English Embankment.

Eventually, this place became very prestigious, and rich noblemen began to build their houses there. Every day splendid balls were held in the houses on the English Embankment. Lev Tolstoy described one of such balls, «the first ball of Natasha Rostova», in his novel «War and Peace».

The Chancellor of the Russian Empire Count Rumyantsev built one of the most beautiful mansions on the English Embankment in 1802. After retirement he took interest in Russian history and began to create a museum of antiquities. He died in 1826. He instructed to open a public museum in his house after his death.

The exposition «Leningrad in the years of the Great Patriotic War» was opened in 1964. It occupies 12 rooms. There you can know about the tragic events of the Leningrad Blockade. It lasted 872 days, from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944.

The exposition contains a lot of original things, including the diary of Leningrad schoolgirl Tanya Savicheva. It became a symbol of those hard days. Eight members of her family died before her eyes. After the death of her mother on May 13, 1942 she made the last entry: «The Savichevs died. All died. Only Tanya remained». This diary was one of the material evidences at the Nuremberg trial.