Historisch Museum.
State Historical Museum.

The construction of this building was the first step in the reconstruction of Moscow's centre.
The huge brick volume of the museum was designed in so-called Russian style, imitating the details and decorations of the traditional national architecture. Sherwood wanted the building to become an exhibit in itself, including in its facades elements of wellknown monuments.
Today the museum houses the unique collection of coins and medals, ancient implements, furnishing, manuscripts and earlyhand-printed books (including 11th century Greek and 13th century Byzantine work), Novgorod birch-bark scrolls dating from the 10 th century, examples of the arms of Kiev Rus, the robes of Ivan the Terrible, the iron cage in which he captured Pugachov, leader of the 1773-1775 peasant uprising, was brought to Moscow, etc. In 1184 the well-known artist V. Vasnetsov painted the grat picture 'Stone Age' specially for the museum. In 1966 a renovation programme was begun.