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RussiaWhat to Expect and Is It Worth Visiting
Panorama Museum "Defense of Sevastopol 1854-1855" is the most famous and visited museum of Sevastopol, which you should definitely visit during a trip to the city, unless, of course, you are scared off by a very high price, which has increased several times over the past few years. "Defense of Sevastopol" is included in the route of most sightseeing and one-day excursions to this hero city from other resorts, and therefore there are always a lot of visitors here.
The basis of the museum is a huge picturesque panorama-a canvas about the heroic defense of Sevastopol in 1854-1855 during the Crimean War. Initially, the canvas was painted by the battle artist Franz Alekseevich Rubo on a canvas measuring 14 by 115 meters!!! Of course, the artist was not Rubo alone, but a whole group of artists under his leadership, who worked on the panorama from 1902 to 1904 in Germany. The result of this titanic work was the opening of the Panorama Museum on May 14, 1905.
Unfortunately, during the Great Patriotic War, the panorama building was attacked, the canvas caught fire. Despite the danger of burning alive, sailors and soldiers rushed to save the work of art, literally cutting it into pieces in pieces in order to put it in a safe place. As a result, it was possible to save 2/3, and 1/3 of it was completely lost. Unfortunately, the preserved part suffered during transportation and could not be restored, and therefore the canvas was rewritten, which took 8 years. On October 16, 1954, the panorama was reopened. In the coming years, it is planned to restore the canvas again.
The museum consists of two parts: exhibition hall and observation deck. You can visit both, or only the observation deck, which is a little cheaper. Actually, there is not much to see in the exhibition hall, so you can skip it if you really need to save money. The canvas itself is already being examined from the observation deck, from which you can see it completely in a circle and in all details.
Visiting and inspecting the canvas provides excursion support, but this does not always go well. The fact is that sometimes too large groups and even several groups gather at once on the observation deck, which is why you may simply not hear the guide. Therefore, it is better to choose the time to visit at the beginning of the day or at the end before the museum closes, when fewer organized groups from other resorts arrive.
Well, if you are planning to spend a few days in Sevastopol and visit all the main attractions, then it makes sense to immediately buy a more profitable single ticket to several museums that are part of the museum association. These are the panorama "The Defense of Sevastopol 1854-1855", the Cathedral of St. Prince Vladimir, the defensive tower of the Kornilov bastion, the defensive tower of the Malakhov Kurgan. You can find out more at the ticket offices or on the museum's official website (see below).
🌐 Website: http://sevmuseum.ru
🕐 Working hours: from 10:00 to 19:00, seven days a week.
💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: you can buy a ticket to the exhibition hall and the observation deck, or only to the observation deck.
- Only the observation deck for viewing the panorama: adults – 500 rubles; children (16-18 years old) – 350 rubles, children 7-15 years old – 200 rubles, up to 7 years old – free of charge.
- Observation deck and exhibition hall: adults – 550 rubles; children (16-18 years old) - 400 rubles, children 7-15 years old - 300 rubles, up to 7 years old – free of charge.
There are also single tickets for visiting several museums, see the official website.
🚶 How to get there: the panorama museum "Defense of Sevastopol 1854-1855" is located in the city center on the Historical Boulevard ("Defense of Sevastopol 1854-1855" on the map). You can get here by city buses 2, 13a, 17, 20, 22, 29, 92, 94, 105, 137 and trolleybuses 4, 11, 11a, 12, 17, 19, 20, the fare costs 26 rubles (in 2023). A taxi ride to the museum within the center will cost 100 rubles, from other areas from 200 rubles. There is a free parking area in front of the entrance for private transport, but it is almost always occupied by local cars. If you do not find a free space on it, you can park your car in the paid parking lot here, or look for free places in the neighboring streets and alleys.
We remind you that it is much more interesting to get acquainted with the sights of Sevastopol with the help of excursions, and therefore we advise you to look at online booking options on these proven search and price comparison sites: