World History and Culture: Dedicated to the architectural monuments of Palmyra exhibition in Tula

The Historical and Memorial Museum of Demidovs (Tula) on the 28th of January 2016 opens the exhibition entitled the "Road to the East. Palmyra - the Desert Bride."

The exhibition is dedicated to the journey of Prince Semen Semenovich Abamelek-Lazarev in Eastern countries together with the artist Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov and art critic Adrian Viktorovich Prahov.

Displayed are the reproductions of the surviving monuments of Palmyra, as well as rare photographs of the packaging and transportation process of the unique monument of ancient literature - a marble slab of 137 AD, courtesy of the State Hermitage Museum.

The project was prepared in cooperation with the State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg) and the State Memorial History, Art and Natural National Park and Museum of V. D. Polenov (Tula).

At the end of XIX - the early XX centuries there was a surge of interest in the study of the history of Egypt, the Middle East and India, all of which at that time have become more accessible and less dangerous for travelers. In 1881, immediately after graduating from St. Petersburg University of the young prince S. S. Abamelek-Lazarev on at one's own expense equips the archaeological expedition and along with Professor A. Prahov and the famous artist V. D. Polenov undertakes a journey to the Mediterranean countries. From his trip to East Polenov brought a lot of sketches and drawings, which served as material for paintings. Later, in 1884, Prince S. S. Abamelek-Lazarev, encouraged by his discovery of the customs tariff, published the based on the results of excavations book entitled "Palmyra", which also served as a source for the exhibition.

The exhibition will last till March 4, 2016.