Description of the attraction
The luxurious Ryumin Palace, located on the Rippon Square, which is atypically spacious for Lausanne, has never been a residential mansion. It was erected after the death of the last of the Bestuzhev-Ryumin family, 30-year-old Gabriel, whom his parents called Gabriel in the Russian manner.
The Bestuzhev-Rumins moved to Lausanne even before the birth of their son. Gabriel and his mother received Swiss citizenship after the death of the head of the family, Vasily Bestuzhev-Ryumin. When his mother passed away, Gabriel, who at that time was less than 30 years old, felt lonely. He had no one, except for the city of Lausanne, which became a family. Leaving for another trip - to distant Constantinople, he left a will in favor of the city. The municipality of Lausanne received 1.5 million Swiss francs. According to Ryumin's last will, this money was to be used to pay for the construction of a public building. The project of this mansion had to be approved at once by 10 respected members of the society, including five professors from the local Academy.
Gabriel Bestuzhev-Ryumin did not return from Constantinople, and the city authorities in 1906 built a magnificent Renaissance palace named after him in his memory. Gaspard André was chosen as the architect of the building.
Until 1980, the Ryumin Palace was one of the buildings of the University of Lausanne. Now it is occupied by five museums, each of which is interesting in its own way. The most popular is the Museum of Fine Arts, which contains paintings dating from the 15th-20th centuries. Four other museums are dedicated to archeology and history, geology, zoology and numismatics. Also, the building still houses the university library.
