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The Zoological Museum of Moscow State University is one of the most visited museums in Moscow. This is not surprising, because this is the oldest Moscow museum and also the largest. And it once began with just a small office natural history at the university and only a hundred years later “moved” to a separate building, which was built by the architect Mikhail Bykovsky. Currently, visitors are presented with an exhibition of 10 thousand exhibits, which introduces almost the entire world fauna - from protozoa to vertebrates. In the halls of the zoological museum you can see the entire diversity of the animal world, from single-celled animals and reptiles to birds and mammals.
Why go to the zoological museum?
Parents often think about where to go with their children in Moscow, which place is better to choose so that their children can gain new knowledge while having fun. The most the best places Museums have long been recognized for relaxation and simultaneous education. If you want to instill in your child a love of museums, then you need to start with a trip to the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University. It is in the zoological museum that you will see your baby’s enthusiastic look and genuine interest in what is happening, without an expression of boredom on his face or capriciousness.
Going with a child to the address st. Bolshaya Nikitskaya house 6 you will see a remarkable building. Its facade is decorated with images of lizards, squirrels, monkeys, bulls, bats, rams. The Zoological Museum of Moscow State University is one of the largest and oldest natural science museums in Russia with a history of more than two centuries.
Most major modern museums have long gone beyond the usual display and storage of specimens. They turned into scientific complexes with lecture halls in which not only popularization takes place, but also the study of natural sciences. The Zoological Museum of Moscow State University was no exception. There is a biological lecture hall and a biological circle for schoolchildren, where such interesting questions, such as, for example, where a giraffe gets its spots, who lives at the bottom of the ocean, and many others.
In total, the museum has about ten million exhibits, of which about two hundred thousand belong to the class of mammals. There is a large collection of birds, but since the world has the most insects, the largest collection is entomological - more than three million specimens.
Acquaintance with the diversity of fauna of our planet, with internal structure and the evolution of living beings not only broadens the child’s horizons, but also develops curiosity, ingenuity, love of science and, of course, respect and compassion for all living things.
By looking at the exhibits, especially animal skeletons, the child will be able to see the patterns by which living beings are organized.
At the stairs you will be greeted by a complete authentic mammoth skeleton. There used to be other skeletons of prehistoric animals here, but they were transferred to the paleontological museum, which we also highly recommend visiting. In paleontology, you can show children full-length skeletons of not only mammoths, but also dinosaurs.
The museum also displays stuffed animals of the dead most prominent inhabitants of the Moscow Zoo: tigers, lions, crocodiles, lizards, rhinoceroses. There is an orangutan that has long been listed in the Red Book as an endangered species. Looking at the skeletons of animals, every now and then you are surprised at how different a pig, a hippopotamus and a rhinoceros are on the outside, but have a very similar structure on the inside.
The stands depict the stages of evolution, where the child will see how the first birds, reptiles and mammals appeared and developed. The walls of the museum are decorated with paintings by the outstanding Soviet animal artist Vasily Vatagin. The “living corner” is very popular among children - a terrarium where you can hold a real agama in your hands or feed a chameleon. The museum has a DNA laboratory that studies genetic code dead animals that have become museum exhibits. Unfortunately, it is not easy to get into this laboratory; it is closed for tours. Almost all exhibits in the museum are real bodies once living creatures, but there are exceptions.
For example, a cast was made especially for this museum the oldest fish coelacanth, which was considered the ancestor of lobe-finned fish. I really want visitors to understand how the Zoological Museum differs from the Darwinian or Paleontological Museum, that real zoological scientists work here, who constantly go on new expeditions and replenish the museum’s collection with new exhibits. It is difficult to discover new species of animals on the territory of Russia; the greatest diversity is still represented in the tropics, but we also have something to see. For example, the skulls of the rarest polar bears that died in natural conditions.
It is worth coming to the Zoological Museum not only to see the animals, but also to see how museums were built in the old days. Original planning solutions, twelve-meter high ceilings. Upstairs, on the huge balconies, which are supported by cast brackets, there is that very huge entomological collection. The museum once had a completely transparent glass roof, but during World War II it was broken by a shock wave, after which the ceiling was simply sewn up. Since its creation, the museum has been actively supported by Tsarina Catherine the Second, Emperor Alexander the First, and the Demidov family of philanthropists and businessmen of ancient times. The Moscow intelligentsia of the 20s and 30s loved to “hang out” in the zoological museum.
The Zoological Museum of Moscow State University is one of the largest natural science repositories not only in our country, but throughout the world. An excellent place to get acquainted with living creatures inhabiting planet Earth, it is used for educational and research purposes. The museum is compact and cozy, organizes interesting interactive excursions for different age categories visitors.
The specially built building from the beginning of the last century, in which the exhibition is located, was designed by academician of architecture Bykovsky.
The Zoological Museum of Moscow State University separated from the mineralogical collection, formed back in 1759. The zoological exhibits there were supplemented by the donated collection of one of the descendants of Nikita Demidov, a famous breeder and metallurgist. The fire of 1812 destroyed much, but enthusiasts resumed and increased the exhibition before the museum moved to a new building. The spacious lobby is decorated with paintings by the famous animal painter Vatagin, which depict scenes of animal life against the backdrop of natural landscapes.
Next to the lobby there is a very large exhibit - a stuffed elephant, or rather a female elephant. Molly was a long-liver of the Moscow Zoo and the first elephant to give birth while kept in captivity. The stuffed animal was made very skillfully, but the long duration of the display forced museum staff to warn visitors against touching the exhibit.
An information stand precedes the exhibition to make it easier for visitors to navigate the layout of individual sections. The exhibits are grouped in order of increasing complexity of the structure of organisms, from lower to higher beings. The lower floor houses invertebrates, insects and fish, as well as reptiles and amphibians.
The top one represents a variety of birds and is crowned by a group of mammals. There is also a separate anatomical (Bone) hall, where skeletons of various vertebrates are displayed.
Lower hall of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University
The first floor of the museum, in addition to numerous exhibits, is also architecturally interesting. Columns and arched partitions form a vaulted ceiling, all together creating a special museum atmosphere. The stands and display cases are glazed, which does not impair visibility and at the same time ensures the safety of the exhibits, and also protects visitors from the smell of preservatives.
In addition to skeletons and stuffed animals, some of the exhibits are presented in preserved form. Organisms preserved in alcohol retain their original appearance and can be stored indefinitely. It is impossible to imagine, in particular, some reptiles in any other way. A variety of snakes are widely represented in the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University and arouse the interest of visitors. Unlike amphibians (amphibians), reptiles live only on land and can only obtain oxygen from atmospheric air. The largest variety of snakes lives in tropical zones, however, they exist even beyond the Arctic Circle. They are only absent in Antarctica.
Other types of reptiles are also represented in the museum - lizards, crocodiles, monitor lizards and turtles. Crustaceans are numerous, the number of varieties of which on Earth is very large. Crayfish are microscopic creatures - daphnia and cyclops, used for feeding aquarium fish(they are also readily eaten by fish in natural bodies of water). Shrimp and lobsters, lobsters and crabs are also among the crustaceans that are even more numerous than insects on the planet. Moreover, in terms of the number of species, insects surpass not only all arthropods, but also all other biological groups.
Turtles stand apart among reptiles - peculiar creatures with a strong bony shell. The protection is very reliable and time-tested, as evidenced by the preservation of the species unchanged for approximately 150 million years. There are land and sea turtles, as well as those living in inland waters. The Zoological Museum of Moscow State University displays a large collection of these peculiar animals.
The same section of the exhibition presents a variety of fish that live in the seas and oceans, as well as in the rivers and lakes of the planet. The pearl of the collection is a fossil coelacanth, for a long time considered extinct. This lobe-finned fish was one of the sensations of the last century when it was caught in the Comoros area. It is considered the most ancient in origin of living beings now inhabiting the Earth.
There are more than a million species of insects on the planet, which is a record among all groups of living beings. Many species are presented on the museum stands in the corresponding section of the exhibition. Insects pollinate many types of plants, some produce products useful to humans (examples are bees and silkworms). There are bugs that cause inconvenience to people, such as bedbugs, fleas and cockroaches; some carry a number of diseases. Dragonflies and beetles, mosquitoes, ants and grasshoppers are an incomplete list of insects.
The most numerous insects are butterflies; the number of their species exceeds 140 thousand. Feature butterflies - exceptional variety patterns and coloring of the wings, making them a popular collector's item. The Zoological Museum of Moscow State University allows you to admire the beauty of these creatures at its stands.
(MSU) will be very interesting. It is located in the very center of Moscow and is great for a family visit.
The Zoological Museum of Moscow State University has the second largest collection of exhibits in Russia and is one of the ten largest museums of this profile in Europe. It is also a working laboratory for Russian biologists: its scientific foundations currently include more than 8 million units. Among its exhibits there are those that are more than 100 years old. Let us note that all its exhibits, with few exceptions, are representatives of modern fauna. Fossil remains of ancient and extinct animals are included in the collection of another,.
A visit to the museum makes the strongest impression on children. They enter into an unknown world with pleasure and are completely immersed in the atmosphere of new discoveries. For this purpose, the museum has created all the conditions: grouping of exhibits, explanatory signs with them, the work of passionate guides and a lot of different events. But for adults, a trip to this museum becomes a memory of their school childhood. Moreover, the prices are low, with the ability to take photographs without restrictions.
Located in an old building of impressive monumental sophistication, the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University has changed very little over the past decades. In its halls one can feel the spirit of Soviet times, noticeable both in the organization and maintenance of exhibitions, and in the condition of the exhibits. The hall monitors, tour guides, and employees work “not out of fear, but out of conscience.” Such old-fashionedness gives the museum a special charm.
The Zoological Museum of Moscow State University was founded in 1791 at the Imperial Moscow University. At that time it was called the Cabinet of Natural History. During the war with France in 1812, it was almost completely burned out and was carefully restored. Initially, the Cabinet was planned as a large-scale tutorial for students of the Faculty of Biology, which until 1955 was located in the same building. Almost from the moment of opening, the museum was accessible to the general public.
Operating modeTue*: 10.00 - 18.00 (ticket office until 17.00)
Wed: 10.00 - 18.00 (ticket office until 17.00)
Thu: 13.00 - 21.00 (ticket office until 20.00)
Fri: 10.00 - 18.00 (ticket office until 17.00)
Sat: 10.00 - 18.00 (ticket office until 17.00)
Sun: 10.00 - 18.00 (ticket office until 17.00)
* - Except the last Tuesday of the month
WeekendMonday, Last Tuesday of the month
Ticket pricesFrom 100 rub. up to 300 rub. depending on the category of the visitor and the visiting program.
Photo and video shooting is included in the ticket price.
Standard.
Additional InformationThe museum hosts interactive classes, popular science lectures, children's parties, festivals and birthdays. There is a group of young naturalists.
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Featured Reviews
Visitor ratings:
June 2017The most interesting thing was on the second floor, because... we entered the kingdom of birds with bright plumages, birds of paradise, and mammals. Very rich collection stuffed animals, in good condition, gives a complete impression of the animal world of the earth. There are a lot of parents with children, even babies. You need to combine a visit to the Zoological Museum with the Moscow Zoo. It won't get any worse for anyone.
May 2017
I came in by accident... And I didn’t regret it! I discovered a completely new museum with the history and understanding of the world of flora for Russians, since the birth of interest officially in Russia! Informative - Visual! Gorgeous room! But the overhaul is in keeping with the spirit of the times... A virtual immersion into the world of our researchers and their discoveries would not hurt!
April 2017
I went to this museum solely for emotions. The amazing atmosphere of a real museum from the doorstep. A building of wonderful architecture, an extensive exhibition. I am glad that the museum has not been touched by any technical upgrade; I am convinced that its charm and uniqueness lies precisely in the authenticity in which it has been preserved.
History of the museum.
Scientific Research Zoological Museum of Moscow state university them. M.V. Lomonosov traces its ancestry to the Cabinet of Natural History, founded at the Moscow Imperial University in 1791. Initially, the Cabinet was replenished mainly through private donations: among the most significant are the collection of the Semiatic Cabinet of Natural History and the Museum of P.G. Demidova.
Almost all of the university's museum collections were lost in the Moscow fire of 1812; Only a small part of the corals and mollusk shells has survived. In the 20s, a zoological collection was separated from the restored Cabinet, which formed the basis of the museum of the same name, located in the new university classroom building ( former house Pashkova). The principle of organization was systematic, intended to illustrate natural system animals. In 1822, the first inventory of the museum's collections was published, which included more than 1 thousand specimens of vertebrates and about 20 thousand specimens of invertebrate animals.
From 1804 to 1832 The museum was headed by the outstanding zoologist G.I. Fischer - student of K. Linnaeus, author of the first scientific works on the fauna of Russia. In 1832, he developed a project for organizing the Russian Museum of Natural History in Moscow on the model of classical national museums France, England and Germany. However, this project was not accepted (there is still no museum of this type in Russia).
In 1837-1858 the museum was headed by K.F. Roulier is the founder of the Russian school of ecologists. He paid main attention to the study of domestic fauna, attached great importance collection of serial materials, not only on modern, but also on fossil animals. Thanks to following this concept, by the end of the 50s. the museum has already accumulated more than 65 thousand copies.
Prof. played a major role in the development of the Zoological Museum. A.P. Bogdanov, who led it from 1863 to 1896. During this period, the funds were divided into exhibition, educational and scientific, and systematic accounting work with them began. In 1866, the museum was opened as a public museum; by the end of the century, its exhibition was visited by up to 8,000 people a year.
In 1898-1901, especially for the Zoological Museum, which was headed by prof. A.A. Tikhomirov, 
according to the project of academician Bykhovsky, a building was erected on the corner of Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street. and Dolgorukovsky (Nikitsky) lane, preserved without structural changes to this day. In 1911, a new systematic exhibition was opened to the public in the Upper Hall.
In the 20s, the building housed the working premises of the Research Institute of Zoology, Plavmornin, and from 1930 - services and divisions of the newly organized Biological Faculty of Moscow University, into the structure of which the museum itself was introduced. During these years (from 1904 to 1930) the museum was headed by prof. G.A.Kozhevnikov. Under him, zoological scientists were formed within the walls of the museum, whose works subsequently received worldwide recognition: specialists in invertebrate animals, Acad. L.A.Zenkevich, prof. Borutsky; entomologists prof. B.B.Roddendorf, prof. E.S. Smirnov; ichthyologist academician L.S. Berg; ornithologists prof. G.P.Dementyev, prof. N.A. Bobrinskaya, prof. N.A.Gladkov; theriologists prof. S.I.Ognev, prof. V.G. Geptner. In 1931, the Zoological Museum was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Museum Department of the People's Commissariat for Education (until 1939) and received the name "Central State Zoological Museum". The volume of scientific funds in the early 40s. reached 1.2 million copies.
In July 1941, all museum halls were closed. Part of the scientific collections was evacuated to Ashgabat, the rest were placed in the Lower Hall. In March 1942, both halls on the second floor were opened to the public, and in 1945, the lower one as well. The evacuated funds were returned in 1943. In the 50s. The main event was the release of the museum building from the services of the Biological Faculty in connection with its move to the new building of Moscow State University on the Lenin Hills, which made it possible to significantly improve the placement of scientific collections.
In the 70-80s. (director O.L. Rossolimo) the museum has undergone a complete reconstruction. By freeing the “wings” of the building occupied by residential premises, the storage area was increased and the exhibition halls were unloaded.
The scientific part of the museum.
The scientific part of the museum currently includes 7 sectors: zoology of invertebrate animals, entomology, ichthyology, herpetology, ornithology, theriology, evolutionary morphology. The number of scientific staff is 26 people. Among them are the world's leading specialists in the taxonomy of individual taxa of shellless and testate mollusks, crustaceans, mites, Coleoptera and Diptera insects, gobiids, and desert rodents. The main direction of research is the analysis of the structure of taxonomic diversity, including systematics, phylogenetics, and faunistics. Developments in the field of theoretical taxonomy are underway. 
The works of the museum are published annually under common name"Research on Fauna" (34 volumes published), scientific monographs are published (for last years at least 20, among them the fundamental summary “Mammals of Eurasia”), catalogs of collections (primarily type ones, also the Demidov collection of mollusks), methodological manuals for their storage. With the support of the museum, 4 are published scientific journal in the field of zoology.
Museum funds.
In terms of the volume of funds, the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University is among the first ten largest museums in the world in this profile, and ranks second in Russia (after the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg). Its scientific collections currently include more than 4.5 million storage units. The annual increase in scientific collections is about 25-30 thousand units. xp, with industry institutes making a significant contribution Russian Academy Sciences: Problems of evolution and ecology, Oceanology, Geography, etc. The most extensive collections are entomological (about 3 million, of which over 1 million are beetles); The collections of mammals (200 thousand) and birds (140 thousand) are very significant. Of the regions, the Palearctic is most fully represented.
Special scientific significance has a collection of type specimens (about 7 thousand items), documenting the discovery of animal taxa new to science - species and subspecies, of which more than 5 thousand have been described based on the museum’s collections throughout its history.
Of great historical value are: a collection of mollusk shells that belonged to P.G. Demidov, with whom the Cabinet of Natural History began; G. Fischer's collection of insects, which served as the basis for his famous “Entomography”; a few exhibits of birds and mammals, which in the times of G. Fischer and C. Roulier were demonstrated in classes with students and public lectures (for example, the skull of a mountain gorilla, which has inventory No. 1); fees N.A. Severtsov and A.P. Fedchenko of the second half of the last century, who organized the first systematic studies of mountain areas Central Asia.
Among the more recent acquisitions, the world-famous collections of beetles by V.I. are of great importance for systematics research. Mochulsky and butterflies A.V. Tsvetaeva; a collection of terrestrial and marine invertebrates collected by Semper at the end of the last century in the Philippines and until recently considered lost; collections of mammals and birds from the Peruvian Amazon, Vietnam, Mongolia; oological collection of Palaearctic birds.
Library.
The museum's scientific library contains about 200 thousand items. mainly specialized publications on zoology. Among the most valuable are lifetime editions late XVIII - early XIX centuries C. Linnaeus, J.-B. Lamarck, G. Fischer. The attraction of the library is books and prints from the personal collections of zoologists S.I. Ogneva, N.I. Plavilshchikova, G.P. Dementieva and others.
Exposition.
The modern exhibition includes about 7.5 thousand exhibits. General principle its structure has been kept the same: two halls are dedicated to the systematic part, one is evolutionary-morphological. The Lower Hall houses invertebrates, fish, amphibians and reptiles. In the Upper Hall there are birds and mammals. The key concept of the systematic exhibition is to demonstrate the taxonomic diversity of the world's fauna. The purpose of the evolutionary exposition is to demonstrate the operation of the basic laws and rules of macro-evolutionary transformations morphological structures.
The exhibition features mainly representatives mass species. Along with this, there are also unique objects: for example, a complete skeleton of a Steller's cow, a stuffed passenger pigeon (both of these species were exterminated by humans 200 years ago). Among the exhibits that especially attract visitors are two stuffed giant pandas - one of the rarest animals, a collection of very bright and large tropical butterflies and beetles; finally, openwork skeletons of vertebrate animals made about 100 years ago.
The exhibition is based on natural objects: stuffed animals and skeletons of terrestrial vertebrates, complete specimens of fish, amphibians and aquatic invertebrates fixed in alcohol, dried and straightened insects. Elements of the landscape principle are also used: some objects are mounted on imitations of a natural substrate. Natural objects are accompanied by diagrams and texts containing information about the taxonomic position, distribution, features of biology and morphology, and the principles of operation of individual morphological structures.
Many stuffed animals and preparations are decades old. They were made by such outstanding taxidermists as F. Lorenz, and later - V. Fedulov, N. Nazmov, V. Radin.
The museum has an art fund that includes more than 400 drawings and paintings by outstanding Russian animal artists: V.A. Vatagina, A.N. Komarova, N.N. Kondakova, G.E. Nikolsky and others. Some of the paintings are on permanent display.
Working with visitors. Museum for children.
Scientific and educational work on the basis of the exposition is carried out by the excursion and exposition department with 10 employees. Every year, the museum's exposition is visited by 190-200 thousand people, about 1,700 excursions are organized on 15-18 topics.
The educational center "Planetarium" operates on the basis of the lecture hall. Lectures are developed and given by scientific experts in relevant fields of knowledge. Their topics cover biology, history, art, and architecture.
The museum runs a zoological club for high school students. Classes are held on the basis of the museum's stock collections, lectures on the evolution and biology of animals, and field trips.
The museum is open daily except Mondays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Address: 103009 Moscow K-9, st. Bolshaya Nikitskaya, 6.
Contact phone: 203-89-23.