World cultures Merano, Trentino-South Tyrol

Raccolta russo-ortodossa Nadežda Borodina

Collection in the “Casa russa” in Merano with icons from the Orthodox church of Saint Nicholas, a historic Russian library and paintings; visits by appointment.

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About the museum

The “Casa russa” in Merano came into being at the end of the nineteenth century thanks to a donation, and took in poor Russians in poor health, around whom a community formed. The library bears the name of its benefactor, Nadežda Ivanovna Borodina, and holds over 1,300 volumes, including around 400 periodicals, mostly in Russian but also in French, as well as liturgical texts and music scores, largely dating from between 1890 and 1930.

The church of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker was inaugurated on 3 December 1897; after restoration, it was returned to worship in the 1990s. Since 1991 the cultural association Rus’ has operated, looking after the library since 2000; in 2004 the collection joined the Associazione Musei Altoatesini, and in 2017 the Autonomous Province of Bolzano assigned the association a seat in the villa.

The collection includes sacred objects, with original icons in the church and some liturgical objects displayed in the entrance hall, and since 2019 a collection of paintings formerly belonging to the “Borodine” foundation, now owned by the Comune di Merano and on long-term loan from the Palais Mamming Museum. There is also the Pescatori-Bragaglia donation, with Dymkovo clay toys and “lubki” (Russian popular prints), and historical photographs of the guests of the house and of the community’s priests.