The exposition "Geography Lessons" welcomes its first visitors at the National Centre RUSSIA
Imperial sleighs, a master of ceremonies’ phaeton, and even a model of the ship. Authentic treasures from leading museums and archives across the country can be seen at the exposition "Geography Lessons". The exposition is now welcoming its first visitors at the National Centre RUSSIA and promises to become an engaging journey for guests of all ages.
At the core of the exposition are rare cartographic materials from the collections of the Russian State Library, the State Historical Museum, the Central Naval Library, the Polytechnic Museum, as well as leading Russian archives, universities, and research centres. These include antique maps and atlases, educational publications, globes of the Earth and other planets, and books that shaped the understanding of the world for several generations of explorers.
From the collection of the State Historical Museum, rare editions have been brought to the exposition. Among them is the work of the Dutch geographer Bernhardus Varenius, "Geographia Generalis…", published in Russian by decree of Peter the Great as a textbook for the Naval Academy. Visitors can also see the "Globe of Mars" from 1993, which makes it easy to read the relief of the Red Planet: craters, plateaus, valleys, volcanoes, and other surface features.
From the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum-Reserve, two-seat urban sleighs from 1807, created by Georg Geiger for the travels of Empress Maria Feodorovna, have been delivered to Moscow. Designed for a pair of horses and capable of transforming into the famous Russian troika with the addition of a third, this carriage illustrates how winter space in Russia was developed — from city streets to country residences.
Displayed nearby is a gold-adorned master of ceremonies’ phaeton from the mid-nineteenth century, which took part in the coronations of Alexander II, Alexander III, and Nicholas II, as well as the celebrations marking the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov. Such vehicles clearly demonstrate the "geography of ceremonies" — the routes through Moscow along which the empire presented itself to its subjects.
The exposition immerses visitors in the atmosphere of school years. In the "Geography Classroom" space, familiar Erisman desks from the 1960s–1970s have been recreated. Visitors can sit at a desk, feel like a pupil again, examine old wall maps and textbooks, and compare how the perception of the country has changed in school atlases.
"Geography Lessons" also features a section dedicated to space, prepared in collaboration with Roscosmos State Corporation. Visitors will learn about modern space technologies, see materials on the development of domestic research, and feel like pioneers. A large screen displaying the starry sky has been installed in the hall: lying on the floor and looking up creates the effect of a real planetarium. In the anniversary year of Yuri Gagarin’s flight, the word "Let’s go!" will once again be heard here.
Interactive exhibits, game modules, and visual novels have been prepared for children and teenagers. A model of the sloop "Nadezhda" ("Hope"), on which Ivan Kruzenshtern completed the first Russian circumnavigation, is complemented by a character — a small mouse that "tells" stories and quotes from the expedition diaries. Nearby is a model of a future high-speed railway train. Visitors can compare how people travelled across the country in the past and how they will travel in the coming decades.
The exposition "Geography Lessons" is designed for a family audience, primarily schoolchildren aged 9–16 and their parents. It offers an opportunity to follow a route from antique maps to space globes, from imperial sleighs to high-speed trains, and to see how geography connects the past, present, and future of the country.
The general partner of the project is the Russian Geographical Society. Among the key partners of the exposition are the Russian State Library, the State Historical Museum, the Polytechnic Museum, the Faculty of Geography of Lomonosov Moscow State University, the Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography (MIIGAiK), the Federal Archival Agency, the Central Naval Library, and other leading institutions. The technological partner is VK. The industry partner is Roscosmos State Corporation. The general media partner is the magazine "Vokrug Sveta" ("Around the World"). Literary partners are AST Publishing House and Eksmo Publishing House.
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