The State Russian Museum is the largest museum of Russian art in the world. It is situated in Saint Petersburg in the Mikhailovsky Palace. The building of the museum is another example of Saint Petersburg’s posh architecture. It was first built by Nicholas II in honour of his father Alexander III. The original name of the museum was the Russian Museum of His Imperial Majesty Alexander III. At the moment the museum contains more than 390 000 items of art, among them 5000 icons. The museum also has a large collection of books, more than 170 000 items. The Russian Museum has several sections, including Russian and Soviet fine art, sculptures and graphics, folk arts and some others. The museum is widely visited by tourists who come to see the riches of St Petersburg. Its doors are open daily from 10am till 6pm, except Tuesday, which is a day-off. The ticket office usually closes an hour earlier, than the rest of the museum. The Russian Museum often organizes interesting exhibitions, which also convey the spirit of Russian fine art, be it an exhibition of ancient items or modern ones. Among the variety of art works, there can be found the real chef-d'oeuvres of such well-known Russian artists, as Ivan Aivazovsky, Carl Bryullov, Nikolai Ge, Isaak Levitan, Mikhail Vrubel, Valentin Serov, Viktor Vasnetsov, Vasily Surikov, and many others.