The museum was founded in 1709 by Peter I’s edict ordering the formation of a Model-Kdmora (Model Chamber) in the building of the Admiralty. Nowadays its collections are housed in the former Fondovaya Birzha (Stock Exchange). The Exchange building is the centre of a majestic architectural ensemble on the Strelka (Spit) of Vasilyevsky Island, created in the first decades of the 19th century by the architects Thomas de Thomon and I. F. Lukini, with the architect A. D. Zakharov participating. In spite of the utilitarian character of these structures, intended for the trade port, the Exchange which reminds of a Greek temple, the surrounding warehouses, the Rostral Columns that served as light-houses, the Kunstkamera (Chamber of Arts), the Academy of Sciences with its strict classical proportions and the Neva Embankment — all go to make a harmonious and unique architectural whole.
The Naval Museum is a treasury of relics of the military glory of the RussianNavy. Among the unique exhibits of the museum there are more than 1,500 models of ships, battle colours, weapons and documents of the Civil and the Great Patriotic Wars.
