A rare blend of beautiful architecture and parks, Tsarskoe Selo is a popular tourist attraction near Saint-Petersburg. And it is not only due to its former owners and architects. Museum staff have devoted their whole lives preserving its history.

For more than two hundred years, Saint-Petersburg was the capital of the Russian Empire. During that time several Imperial residences were built around the city. One of those who keep these beautiful and historically important places in perfect condition today is Ivan Sautov, Director of the Tsarskoe Selo Museum.

This week Ivan Sautov is celebrating his sixtieth birthday.

It takes the ability to wake up at half-past-five every morning, and a talent in hypnotizing people with his ideas. For the past twenty years. the Tsarskoe Selo Museum has been the focus of his life. Sautov was chosen the Director in 1987 by museum employees.

“When a new director comes, with his energy, his drive, his success, the museum will rise” – and I was looking around wondering “who are they talking about?”  Ivan Sautov recalls.

Before that, Sautov spent over a decade working for the city's Monument Protection Service and at the age of just 26, he became the Head of one of the central districts, an unusually successful career for a non-Communist in those times.