Top 5 Ekaterinburg Attractions

Vaynera Street is a big pedestrian street in Ekaterinburg dubbed the ‘Arbat of the Urals’. In the 19th and 20th centuries, it was a beautiful and thriving main trade street of a merchant city. It was here that large shops, businesses, the most famous restaurants and hotels were situated.

There are still historic buildings on Vaynera Street: old mansions and manor houses, a printing house built in modernist style, etc. There are also a lot of monuments here: a statue of a pedlar, lovers and even Michael Jackson.

The history of Ural’s biggest art museum began in 1963 with the opening of the Sverdlovsk Art Gallery. Its collection was enriched by the exhibits from The State Hermitage Museum, The State Tretyakov Gallery, The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, and other big Russian museums. In mid 1980s, with the opening of its new departments of Russian Painting, Decorative and Applied Arts and Russian Art of the 20th century, the Gallery was granted the status of a museum.

The Ekaterinburg Fine Arts Museum’s collection comprises ancient icons and paintings of Russian avant-garde artists, antique glass and the famous collection of Kasli art casting — the cast-iron statues made with amazing detail.

Since the ancient times, the Urals have been famous for their precious stones deposits and the craftsmen who created true masterpieces from the valuable minerals. The Museum of Stone-Cutting and Jewelry Art History is a unique museum dedicated to this ancient Urals tradition. It has halls of the art of stone-cutting of the 18th-20th centuries, the Emerald room, containing various precious stones, and the Malachite hall, where rare natural malachite can be found, as well as ‘Bazhov hall’ with varnished murals illustrating the fairy-tales of Pavel Bazhov.

Ekaterinburg Zoo is home to almost 400 animal species, including 70 of the endangered species list. The heated pavilions inhabit exotic birds, as well as reptiles and an elephant. The visitors of the zoo can see the inhabitants of various latitudes and natural zones: polar bears and Amur tigers, kangaroos and an African lion, various species of crocodiles and a bird-eating spider.

The visitors of Ekaterinburg Zoo can ‘adopt’ any animal they like and donate money that will go towards caring for it. In exchange, the management of the zoo gives the sponsor an opportunity to see their ‘adoptee’ almost any time they like.

A modern art space, the Ural Vision Gallery, opened in Ekaterinburg in 2009. It exhibits collections of Western European engravings of the 16th-19th centuries, paintings and graphic art of the 20th-21st centuries, and contemporary art of the 21st century. The Ural Vision Gallery has held exhibitions of many modern European and Russian artists. The Gallery has also taken part in international art fairs promoting contemporary Russian art.