The 18th of August there is being celebrated the 172nd birthday of the Russian Geographical Society – the eldest public organization of our country.
Traditionally, on that day, the Open Door Day is taking place at the RGS Headquarters in St. Petersburg. The celebration program began with a sightseeing tour of the building and the screening of a documentary about the architect Gavriil Baranovsky, who built the historic Headquarters in St. Petersburg at the beginning of the 20th century.
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- I sincerely congratulate everyone on the 172nd anniversary of the founding of the Russian Geographical Society! The headquarters of the RGS is an amazing place where you can travel across countries and continents without leaving the building. On the Day of Open Doors, we are happy to tell and show to all guests what the society is famous for and how it lives today, - the director of the department of the Executive Directorate of the RGS Viktor Senichkin greeted the guests.
During the day, there were shown the films, telling about the history of the Society in the Great Hall. This year the program is dedicated to the anniversary dates of the leaders of different years of the RGS: the 220th anniversary of the birth of Fyodor Petrovich Litke, the 190th birthday of Pyotr Petrovich Semyonov-Tian-Shansky and the 130th birthday of Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov. The films were shot with the support of the Russian Geographical Society.
On the birthday of the Society, two exhibitions were held at once: in the Small Hall there was told about the unique watercolors written from nature in various parts of our country, by the author of the works, the artist and chairman of the St. Petersburg Union of Artists of Russia Alexander Sikov.
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The second excursion took place in the Museum Hall, where an exposition dedicated to the 190th anniversary of the vice-chairman of the Society Petr Petrovich Semyonov Tian-Shansky. The visitors saw the family relics of the Semyonov family and could ask questions to one of the direct descendants of the scientist Alexandra Vladimirovich Semyonov-Tian-Shansky.
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The Open Day of the Headquarters of the Russian Geographical Society in St. Petersburg was attended by more than 250 people.
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Text and photo by Tatiana Nikolaeva