The Arctic and Antarctic Museum is a museum in St. Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. It was established in November 1930 as part of the Soviet Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute

Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute

The Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, or AARI is the oldest and largest Russian research institute in the field of comprehensive studies of Arctic and Antarctica...

, but was not opened until six years later.

The museum is located in Avraam Melnikov

Avraam Melnikov

Abram or Avraam Melnikov was a Russian Neoclassical architect associated with the late phase of the Empire style. His teachers at the Imperial Academy of Arts included Andreyan Zakharov. He graduated with a gold medal and went to further his studies in Italy...

's Neoclassical church from the 1820s and remains the largest museum dedicated to polar exploration

Polar exploration

Polar exploration may refer to:* Antarctic exploration* Arctic exploration-See also:* Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration* List of Antarctic expeditions* List of Arctic expeditions* List of polar explorers* List of Russian explorers...

in the world. The current director of the museum is Victor Boyarsky.