The first building of the museum quarter of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts

The first building of the museum quarter of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts is planned to open in autumn 2026.

"At the end of next year they will begin handing over the first buildings to us. This will be the building of the depository and restoration complex, which we will start to occupy little by little. And then in autumn 2026 we will open it to the public with an exhibition. (...) Everything should be built by 2030," said Elizaveta Likhacheva, Director of the Pushkin Museum, at a press conference on Tuesday.

She explained that once all the buildings of the museum quarter have been handed over, the main building of the museum will close for repair and restoration. The entire collection will be presented in the new buildings, in new galleries. Asked whether the main building really needed repairs, Likhacheva noted that the last large-scale works there had been carried out some 70 years ago.

After the opening of the museum quarter, the main building will change. "We must understand that with the opening of the new building, the museum you know, the Pushkin Museum, which has existed for the last 50 years, (...) will change once again, for the fourth time in its life. Most of the collection, especially the painting collection, will leave this building, and archaeology will most likely move in here; we are now finding out what exactly," Likhacheva added.