ALL THE RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD

There are a great many museums of religious art in the world, but very few museums of the history of religion. One of the latter is in St. Petersburg: founded in 1932, the museum has assembled a rich collection over six decades or so, acquainting visitors with archaic and traditional beliefs, the religions of the ancient world and the history of Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism. A year ago the museum moved from Nevsky Prospekt to Pochtamtskaya Ulitsa, to a building designed by A. Kavos in the second half of the 19th century. The first sections of the museum's new display opened early this summer: "Archaic Beliefs and Rites", "The Religions of the Ancient World", "The Origin and Essence of Christianity" and "Russian Orthodoxy".