The Russian Geographical Society took part in the preparation of the exhibition «150 Years of Crimean Railways», dedicated to the landmark anniversary. Ilya Gurov, First Deputy Executive Director of the RGS, spoke at the opening ceremony of the exhibition at the Museum of Russian Railways in St. Petersburg.
«We often come with our ideas to Russian Railways and always receive support: together we launched the Moscow-Vladivostok exhibition train No. 1, showed thematic films, organized libraries in carriages and exhibitions at railway stations. Oleg Valentinovich Belozerov, Chairman of the Executive Board of Russian Railways, has always actively supported us. And now the Railway Museum has contacted us. Of course, we were happy to accept this proposal, especially since the whole country recently celebrated the anniversary of the annexation of Crimea to Russia, and the Russian Geographical Society has been very active and continues to work on this topic. Currently, with the support of the Presidential Grants Fund, we are implementing the educational project '100 Reliable Facts about Novorossiya and Crimea’,» Ilya Gurov emphasized.
Ilya Gurov at the opening of the exhibition "150 Years of Crimean Railways". Photo: Olga Semenova / press service of the RGS Headquarters in St. Petersburg
The year 2025 marks the 150th anniversary of the beginning of regular railway communication between Crimea and the rest of Russia: the first train arrived in Sevastopol on September 15, 1875. To mark the anniversary of the event, which had a great impact on the development of the peninsula, the Railway Museum has prepared a large exhibition. It is devoted to the history of the Crimean railways: from the initial stage of the construction of the Lozovo-Sevastopol Railway in 1874–1875 to the present day. The headquarters of the Russian Geographical Society in St. Petersburg provided unique materials on this topic.
Ilya Gurov at the opening of the exhibition "150 Years of Crimean Railways". Photo: Olga Semenova / press service of the RGS Headquarters in St. Petersburg
The Cartographic Collection of the RGS contains «Album of Views of the Lozovo-Sevastopol Railway», which contains 59 hand-colored albumin photographs. Five images were selected from this album specially for the exhibition «150 Years of Crimean Railways»: «Simferopol Station», «Bakhchisaray Station», «Grafsky Viaduct», «Tunnel No. 1», and «Sevastopol Station».
Each of the photographs bears a typographic stamp and an embossing of the photographic company «Photographers of His Imperial Majesty Scherer, Nabholz & Co. in Moscow.» You can take a closer look at «Album of Views of the Lozovo-Sevastopol Railway» on the Geoportal of the Russian Geographical Society.
At the exhibition at the Russian Railway Museum, visitors will be able to see photographs with views of Crimean railway stations at the end of the 19th century, historical documents, photographs, tickets from the Soviet period, and railway tools used in the construction of the railway. The exhibition «150 Years of Crimean Railways» will be open until December 2025.