In late 2018, The Peterhof State Museum opened a new museum of playing cards and their role in human culture. The new venue is referred to as «museum-spectacle» as modern multimedia technologies have come to help spectators (as visitors are called here) better plunge into history and art.
The exposition features more than 10,000 items. Various types of decks of cards, i.e. souvenirs, educational, advertising, for kids, to name a few, accessories for playing are exhibited in halls decorated in style of ancient epochs. The museum uses virtual installations, videos, interactive lighting and «live» exhibits.
Spectators will meet royal players, learn the connection between playing cards and Peterhof, attend a session of fortunetelling, visit virtually casinos across the world, witness a talk between famous Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, the author of «The Queen of Spades», and composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky who wrote the music for «The Queen of Spades» opera.
The museum has some truly interesting and rare exhibits which could be of interest not only for experts:
— playing cards with couriers, printed in Augsburg in 1690;
— Chinese narrow paper cards, which are thought to have been prototypes of money;
— unique small Persian cards made by using the technique of lacquer painting on papier-mache;
— set of Japanese cards Hanafuda;
— «Anti-fascist cards», created in Leningrad during the siege of the city in World War II.
Audio guide in English and English translation of multimedia installations will be ready before the start of the summer 2019.
Address: Peterhof, 2, Pravlenskaya street (the territory of the Upper Garden). Read our post on how to get to Peterhof.
Opening hours (till April 26, 2019): Saturday and Sunday, 10.30 – 18.00. Entrance is till 17.30 every 20 minutes. All the visitors walk around museum within a group excursion.
Fee: tickets for tax residents of Russia and citizens of some CIS countries – 250 rubles, for others – 500 rubles.
Also watch small video about the museum 👇
Photo credit: The Peterhof State Museum