Tretyakov Gallery

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Lonely Planet review

Tretyakov Gallery is just spectacular, with the world's best collection of Russian icons and a stash of other pre-revolutionary Russian art, especially the 19th-century Peredvizhniki. The collection is based on that of 19th-century industrialist brothers Pavel and Sergey Tretyakov; Pavel was a Peredvizhniki patron.

Much of the Tretyakov's collection of religious art was confiscated from churches during the Soviet era. Now that the Church wants its icons back, the Tretyakov has had to battle to keep its most precious treasures.

For the moment at least, it has fended off the pressure by also restoring the Church of St Nicholas within its grounds. About 200 icons are displayed there, and the building functions as both church and museum.

The original part of the gallery building was created in the likeness of an old boyar (high-ranking noble) castle by Viktor Vasnetsov between 1900 and 1905. The 62 rooms are numbered, and progress in chronological order from rooms 1 to 54; the next eight rooms hold icons and jewellery.