Moscow museums · Art
Art · since 1934
The Museum of Architecture
Shchusev State Museum of Architecture
original name: Государственный музей архитектуры имени А. В. Щусева
The only museum of architecture in Russia and one of the few in the world. It holds fragments of demolished buildings — reliefs from the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, details of the Sukharev Tower: things that exist nowhere else because the buildings do not.
Minimum route
1.5 hours
Founded
1934
Ticket
from 450 ₽ ≈ £4
Today
13:00–21:00
What to see
The enfilade of the Talyzin house with its exhibitions; the Apothecary Office, 17th-century chambers where fragments of demolished Moscow buildings are shown; models of unbuilt projects, including material on the Palace of the Soviets.
Minimum route — 1.5 hours for the essentials
Walk the enfilade with the current exhibitions, then the Ruin wing and the Apothecary Office: fragments of demolished buildings, among them reliefs of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and details of the Sukharev Tower.
Reference
About the museum
The only museum of architecture in Russia and one of the few in the world. Founded in 1934 and named since 1945 after Alexey Shchusev, who created it. About a million items: drawings, models, photographs and fragments of demolished buildings.
The building
The Talyzin estate of the late 18th century; next to it the 17th-century chambers of the Apothecary Office.
Good to know
There is no permanent display in the usual sense: the museum lives by exhibitions, and several run at once.
What to read
Selim Khan-Magomedov, “Pioneers of Soviet Architecture” — the survey that makes the drawings in these halls readable.
ISBN 9780785544562
Getting in
How to get there
Metro Biblioteka imeni Lenina, Arbatskaya or Aleksandrovsky Sad
Opening timeschecked 15 August 2026, open sources
open now until 21:00
| Mon | closed |
| Tue, Thu today | 13:00–21:00 |
| Wed, Fri–Sun | 11:00–20:00 |
last admission 30 min before closing
Box office closes half an hour early. Closed Mondays. Free for large families on the last Wednesday of the month.
Ticketschecked 15 August 2026, open sources
When to go
Tuesday and Thursday open at 13:00 and run to 21:00 — the enfilade is nearly empty in the evening.
Contacts
muar.ru · +7 (495) 690-05-51
Of interest to children
Architectural drawings say little to children; the models do.
Access for visitors with limited mobility
The museum — partly. The main enfilade is level, but the Ruin wing and the Apothecary Office are up steps.
Getting there — partly. Biblioteka imeni Lenina has no lift. Moscow metro stations almost never have lifts to the platform, except on the Big Circle line and the MCC. A wheelchair user is better served by the surface buses, which are low-floor across the centre.
Getting there — partly. Biblioteka imeni Lenina has no lift. Moscow metro stations almost never have lifts to the platform, except on the Big Circle line and the MCC. A wheelchair user is better served by the surface buses, which are low-floor across the centre.
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