Ploshchad Mira

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Krasnoyarsk's Lenin museum was opened on the occasion of the October Revolution's 70th anniversary in 1987, only to see the entire communist system collapse four years later. But, in a true revolutionary spirit, it has reinvented itself as a beautifully eclectic art venue that fuses elements of the original communist-era exhibitions with top-quality contemporary art and photography. An installation dedicated to Afghan and Chechen wars, which mixes naive art with photographs and personal belongings of deceased soldiers, is especially poignant.

Ploshchad Mira also serves as the venue of Krasnoyarsk's art biennale, held in 2018 and 2020. The museum's old library has now been converted into what Russians call 'open space' – a wi-fi hotspot lounge, where you can comfortably spend time checking emails, reading a book or chatting with friends over a cup of coffee. Called Okna, it also runs lectures and public discussions.


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Nearby attractions

1. SV Nikolai

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Permanently docked below Ploshchad Mira art centre is the SV Nikolai, the ship that transported future revolution leader Vladimir Lenin to exile in…

2. Resurrection Church

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The top-heavy but elegant Resurrection Church (1804–22) was decapitated in the 1930s but given a new tower in 1998–99. Its icon-filled interior billows…

3. Surikov Art Museum

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The cute Surikov Art Museum displays works by Russian 19th-century artist Ivan Surikov and his contemporaries. Its affiliate at ul Mira 12 houses a small…

4. Intercession Cathedral

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This pleasingly small old church dating from 1795 has an interior of unusually glossed and intricately moulded stucco framing haloed saints.

5. Literature Museum

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Occupying a glorious 1911 merchant’s mansion, this wonderfully restored museum highlights various aspects of Siberian life that inspired authors who wrote…

6. Regional Museum

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Housed in an incongruously attractive 1912 art nouveau Egyptian temple, this is one of Siberia’s better museums. Arranged around a Cossack explorer’s ship…

7. Chapel of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa

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For some spectacular city views, climb Karaulnaya Hill (there's no bus) to the little chapel that features on the Russian 10-rouble banknote (now slowly…

8. Surikov Museum-Estate

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The Surikov Museum-Estate preserves the house, sheds and vegetable patch of 19th-century painter Vasily Surikov (1848–1916). The heavy-gated garden forms…