Moscow museums · Art
Art · since 1918
The Museum of Oriental Art
The State Museum of Oriental Art
original name: Государственный музей Востока
Western museums of the East were formed by colonial routes; this collection grew out of nationalised private collections and Soviet expeditions. Hence the Central Asian, Caucasian, Buryat and Chukchi sections that London and Paris lack: there the East begins with India and Egypt, here with what lay inside the country and next to it. That is the reason to come.
Minimum route
2 hours
Founded
1918
Ticket
from ₽500
Today
12:00–21:00
What to see
Central Asian and Caucasian carpets and metalwork transferred from the State Museum Fund; Iranian Qajar painting and tilework; Chinese bronze and porcelain, Japanese prints; a Korean section rare for Russia; Buddhist sculpture of Buryatia and Mongolia.
Minimum route — 2 hours for the essentials
Two hours.
- 50 minutesthe Central Asian and Caucasian halls: carpets, metalwork, ceramics — the strongest part of the collection and the part London and Paris do not have.
- 40 minutesIran and the Near East: Qajar painting, tilework, miniatures.
- 30 minutesChina, Japan and Korea: bronze, porcelain, prints. Look at Gilardi’s Empire interiors as you go: the rooms were barely altered for the museum.
Reference
About the museum
Founded on 30 October 1918. About 150,000 items: the Far and Near East, Central Asia, the Caucasus, Buryatia, Chukotka.
The building
The Lunin House, a model of Moscow Empire style, built by Domenico Gilardi in 1818–1823. The rooms were barely altered and still look little like galleries.
Good to know
The museum has a second site, Pavilion 13 at VDNKh, and a branch in Maykop. Several halls are given to the painting of Nicholas and Svyatoslav Roerich; in our view that is not what makes the trip worth it.
What to read
Oleg Grabar, “The Formation of Islamic Art” — so that you distinguish schools instead of admiring ornament in general.
ISBN 9780300040463
Getting in
How to get there
Metro Arbatskaya, Pushkinskaya or Tverskaya
Opening timeschecked on 15 August 2026, open sources
closed for the day
| Mon | closed |
| Tue, Fri–Sun | 11:00–20:00 |
| Wed, Thu today | 12:00–21:00 |
last admission 30 min before closing
Box office closes half an hour early. Closed Mondays.
Ticketschecked on 15 August 2026, the museum website
When to go
Wednesday and Thursday open at 12:00 and run to 21:00 — empty in the evening.
Contacts
orientmuseum.ru · +7 (495) 691-02-12 (enquiries), +7 (495) 691-82-19 (guided tours)
Of interest to children
Eastern art needs explaining and says little to younger children. From 10, better with a guide.
Access for visitors with limited mobility
The museum — partly. The Gilardi mansion: a ramp at the door, but steps between the enfilades. Ask an attendant to escort you.
Getting there — not checked. Arbatskaya and Pushkinskaya have no lifts. Surface transport along Nikitsky Boulevard. 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 — not checked. Arbatskaya and Pushkinskaya have no lifts. Surface transport along Nikitsky Boulevard. 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.
On now
14 August — 27 September 2026
Iranian painting of the 18th and 19th century, recently acquired by the museum. A small show in the main building on Nikitsky Boulevard.
If this moved you
In the same city
If the Persian miniatures held you and you caught the rhythm of an unfamiliar iconography, on Taganka the eye does the same work on a familiar one.
· No. 43