The Local Lore Museum of Saratov keeps invaluable information about the history of the region. His fund is one of the largest in the country. The history of the first space flights, the memory of the famine of the 30s, exhibits representing rare animals, and much more are kept by the local history museum. Saratov (a large number of photos of the regional center are placed in the halls) appears to visitors at the same time as the birthplace of great scientists and cultural figures, the capital of the Volga region with elegant buildings in the Art Nouveau style, the city in which selflessly worked during the Great Patriotic War - the place where they were born, rejoiced and saddened, people died. The unique collection of the museum will be of interest not only to the residents of the region, but also to numerous guests.
History
Saratov Museum of Local Lore is considered one of the oldest in Russia. It was founded in December 1886. The initiator of the creation of the museum was the Saratov Scientific Archival Commission, which also appeared this year. Initially, the fund consisted of items brought by the inhabitants of the city.
The local history museum of Saratov was not immediately placed in the building whereit can be found today. The collection was transferred to the former mansion of the merchant Ustinov already in 1930. The building itself is a monument of cultural heritage. This is a wonderful example of classicism architecture designed by I. F. Kolodin.
Funds
Today the Saratov Regional Museum of Local Lore (SOMK) stores about 400 thousand exhibits. Among them are old books and coins, colorful and faded posters, archaeological collections, ceremonial and religious objects, various materials about the history of the city and the region, their cultural and political life.
SOMK is a large museum association, which includes ten branches. Numerous excursions are held here for schoolchildren, students and everyone, as well as lectures and folk holidays.
Special pride
Saratov is not the most ancient city, but its history is rich in significant events and is inextricably linked with the fate of the whole country. The local history museum contains a lot of evidence of past years, allowing you to create a complete picture of the past.
The permanent exhibition "Our Noble Compatriots - Figures of Science and Culture" contains photographs, documents and other materials depicting the life of famous people who were born, lived or worked for a long time in Saratov. The collection contains some personal items, important papers, photographs of the great scientists N. I. Vavilov and N. N. Semenov, aircraft models of the designer O. K. Antonov. The exposition is decorated with books and variousitems that once belonged to the writer K. A. Fedin, composer A. G. Schnittke, such famous actors as B. A. Babochkin, E. V. Mironov, O. I. Yankovsky and O. P. Tabakov.
From ancient times
There are unique exhibits in the halls of the museum that tell about the distant past of the tribes that inhabited this area, and even about times much earlier, when there were no people yet. The latter include, for example, the skeleton of an ichthyosaur. Elements of horse harness, utensils, ritual objects dating back to the 6th-5th centuries BC tell about the life and occupations of the distant ancestors of modern Saratov residents. No less valuable exhibits belong to a later era:
- sabers and knives donated by Empress Elizabeth I herself (XVIII century);
- wedding outfit of a Ural Cossack woman dating from the end of the 19th century;
- carved chair of the finest work, made by the master Shutov V. P. at the end of the century before last;
- straitjacket of the early 20th century - a leather product used in prisons and colonies to pacify prisoners.
The list of rarities is far from complete: it is better to see once than read a hundred times.
Modern charm
Residents of Saratov know that most of the most elegant and beautiful houses in the city were built around the same period, at the beginning of the last century. These buildings, decorated with curved lines reminiscent of wisps of cigarette smoke, sculptures, bas-reliefs and forged elements, belong to the Art Nouveau style that was fashionable at that time. The Saratov Museum of Local Lore devoted a separate exhibition "City and People" to the streets of a bygone era. Visitors are offered photographs showing the Covered Market, which is still under construction, the first buildings of the university and other houses familiar to today's residents. After viewing the exposition, it is good to take a walk around the center of Saratov - all the buildings from the pictures will appear in their modern appearance - a worthy end to the trip to the museum.
Colonists
The museum is constantly running the exhibition "From the life of the Volga Germans." Here you can see furniture, clothes, various household items used by the colonists who settled on the banks of the Volga. The local history museum of Saratov allows you to imagine how the commune lived, which became an autonomous republic in 1924 and lasted until August 1941, using photographs and interior elements.
Funds are constantly replenished, new exhibitions are regularly held on the territory of the museum. Now here you can see the exhibits of the State Darwin Museum of Moscow. The Leafing Through Bram exhibition is dedicated to the traveler and writer A. Bram and contains unique books, a collection of birds and animals.
The local history museum of Saratov is open to everyone who is interested in the history of the city and the region. It works from 10 to 18 (on Saturday - until 19, the ticket office closes one hour earlier), Monday is a day off, the last Tuesday of the month is a sanitary day.
