It’s always nice to have little surprises. I was pleasantly surprised this week when visited the Russian Museum in St.Petersburg. I’ve been there for so many times that I thought I could walk through the rooms with my eyes shut. But unexpectedly I came across a new exhibition – devoted to the applied art from medieval times up to the beginning of the 20th century.

The exhibition must be new to the museum since there is no indication about it on the map you get at the information desk (near ticket office). Not to miss these marvelous twelve rooms of the best examples of Russian craftsmanship, go to the room 48 (ground floor) and instead of turning to Benois wing, go along the souvenir shop and enter bright white rooms of the collection.

I believe that this is a “must-visit” for all foreign tourists to St.Petersburg and Russia, in general, since it will give you the idea of what you would like to buy later in souvenir stores in the country to bring back to your family and friends.  The display showcases all the possible types of art you will meet in Russia – Palekh, Mstera, Gzhel, Dymkovo, Khokhloma, etc.

I personally liked less known (to be honest, unknown to me at all) gingerbread boards (used to have gingerbread dough put onto it to have a very complicated pattern on gingerbread once it is baked) and unorthodox carved sacred sculpture. You will probably like something else as well – just go and check it.