St. Petersburg's Central Naval Museum is one of the biggest Naval museums of the world. Its collections originate from the collections of ships belonging to Peter the Great and to the Admiralty.

Since 1940, the museum has been in the building of the former Stock Exchange on the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island. The building was designed by the famous architect Thomas de Thomon and constructed in 1805-1810.

The Naval Museum was founded in 1805. After the 1917 revolution, the museum collections were enlarged: the museum received the exhibits from two liquidated museums – the Museum of the Guards Fleet and the Museum of the Naval Cadet School. Objects dealing with the activities of the Navy, works of famous seascape painters, such as Ivan Aivazovsky and Alexei Bogolyubov, Naval uniforms, Russian Naval awards and badges.

In the 1920s-1930s, most exhibits in this or that way connected with the Romanov dynasty and noble families were destroyed. Thanks to the heroic efforts of some of the museum staff, it became possible to preserve some of these exhibits, and now they are real gems of the collections of the museum.

The permanently displayed exhibits of the museum show the history of Russian navigation and the Russian Navy, from ancient epochs to present time. These exhibits are displayed in 10 rooms. Temporary exhibitions are often organized at the museum, including traveling exhibitions shown both in Russia and abroad. Many times, the museum participated in joint exhibitions together with the biggest museums of Russia. Recently, the museum became a member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), the International Association of Museums of Arms and Military Museums (IAMAM) and the International Congress of Marine Museums (ICMM).

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