The Academic Gallery is perched above the eastern terminus of pr Kirova. It was built in 1851 to house one of Pyatigorsk’s best-known springs, No 16 (currently closed). It was here that Lermontov’s antihero, Pechorin, first set eyes on Princess Mary.
Inside the Academic Gallery, a new Insect Museum houses a small collection of critters (spiders, snakes, frogs), which the proprietor is happy to show you up close. Upstairs is a lovely butterfly collection from around the globe.
