Discover Penza: Parks, Art and Urban History

Parks, Paths and Urban Spaces

Belinsky Central Park began as a public garden laid out in 1821. The park has a health trail for recreation and exercise, as well as the landscaped Olympic Alley. This makes the park a destination in its own right for a stay that includes walks and physical activity: garden and park history sit alongside opportunities for active pursuits.

Penza Zoo also combines nature and exercise. Its landscaped areas are connected by avenues and paths that are suitable for walks; the avenues are also suitable for horseback riding and active games. The animals visitors can see there include lions, tigers, jaguars, wolves, polar and brown bears, and fennec foxes. The zoo breeds and conserves rare and endangered species. As the animals kept there may change, check in advance which species are currently on view.

On the Sura lies a landscaped public recreation area that is also used for major events. It is home to the “Rostok” monument, considered one of the city’s symbols. Moskovskaya Street offers a different experience: as a pedestrian street, it has squares, green spaces, urban sculptures and a light-and-music fountain. A guided tour can also place the street in the context of the city’s history. Before planning your visit, check whether a tour is currently available and whether the fountain is operating.

History in the Cityscape

Moskovskaya Street was once part of a trade and craft centre. As the centre expanded, the street’s name changed too; at the turn of the 19th century, “Moskovskaya” became its own street name. A walk there thus connects today’s urban spaces with the development of trade in Penza.

A tour of the historic centre follows the boundary of the Penza Fortress. Stops include the First Settler monument, the Museum of One Painting, the art gallery, Lermontov Square, Cathedral Square and the Spassky Cathedral. The complex’s reconstruction also added a walking area in 2020, with a staircase leading from Kirov Street to the Spassky Cathedral. The earthen rampart, whose remains are part of the city’s history, protected the fortress until the first third of the 18th century. A memorial complex was built on these remains in 1980 to commemorate the 17th-century rampart of the Penza Fortress.

The Governor’s Residence is a historical and architectural monument. Before the Revolution, it was the seat of the highest official in the governorate and his chancellery. Since 18 May 2011, it has housed a second branch of the K. A. Savitsky Art Gallery. The exhibition is divided into several themes: the second floor displays paintings, graphic art, sculptures and applied art from the gallery’s collections, including works by the Penza art school. On the first floor are a hall about Penza curated by the local history museum and a hall about Penza folk crafts curated by the Folk Art Museum. If you want to see particular works or rooms, check what is currently on display before your visit.

Museums and Unusual Stages

The V. O. Klyuchevsky Museum is housed in two small wooden houses. Vasily Klyuchevsky lived in one of them from 1851 to 1861. The interiors illustrate the environment in which his worldview developed; the exhibition also includes memorabilia from the family home, documents about family relationships, autographs and editions of his works published during his lifetime. Books from his reading circle round out the collection. The museum opened in 1991 to mark the historian’s 150th birthday.

Other collections have their own areas of focus: the Penza State Museum of Local Lore has more than 140,000 exhibits, while the Literary Museum preserves literary treasures spanning three centuries. At the Museum of One Painting, the painting is revealed after a film about the artist, the subject, the figures and the culture of the period. These different presentations mean that culture in Penza is not confined to a single museum theme, but offers a choice between city history, literature and art.

The Doctor Dapertutto Theatre also offers an unusual perspective on the performing arts. It draws on Meyerhold’s experiments in the style of Commedia dell’arte; the auditorium at the Meyerhold House Centre for Theatre Arts has 60 seats. The productions feature men only. The surviving Meyerhold family estate was built in 1881 by Vsevolod Meyerhold’s father, a prominent local merchant and wine dealer.

These different interests can help guide your choice of holiday apartment: do you want to experience Penza mainly through its parks and walks, its museums and urban history, or its theatre and art?

Discover More Destinations

Discover more destinations: Mastinovka, Beketovka, Kamenka, Gorodishche, Lopatino, Ramzay, Zasechnoye, Dubasovo.

For the broader travel overview: Penza Oblast.