Fersman Mineralogical Museum

The Fersman Mineralogical Museum, named after Soviet geochemist Alexander Fersman, belongs to the Russian Academy of Sciences and holds one of the oldest natural-science collections in Russia. It was founded in 1716 as the mineral cabinet of Peter the Great's Kunstkamera in Saint Petersburg, passed to the new Imperial Academy in 1725, and was upgraded into a dedicated geological museum in 1873. When the academy moved to Moscow in 1934 the collection followed, settling into the neoclassical riding-school of Count Orlov's former estate on Leninsky Prospekt. Today around 135,000 specimens are on view, including spectacular crystal druses, meteorites, and gemstones from the Urals and Siberia. It rewards collectors, families with science-minded children, and visitors looking for a quieter alternative to the Kremlin circuit.