Veliky Ustyug recently celebrated its 870th anniversary. This small city is one of the best options for relaxing in the Russian North. It is worth dropping in from neighboring Kotlas in the winter to visit the residence of Santa Claus. In addition to her, the Museum of Great Ustyug deserves attention
Museum History
The Museum of Great Ustyug dates back to 1910. One of the oldest museums in the Russian North. Initially, it was an ancient storehouse, which received church and early printed books, ancient manuscripts, icons, sculptures, monastery documents and portraits of bishops.
The exhibits came from the monasteries of Veliky Ustyug and from priests from neighboring counties. By 1918, the number of exhibits in the collection reached 600. In 1918, despite the Civil War, a museum of Severodvinsk culture was opened in the city. Its exposition included about 200 paintings. In the 1920s, the museum began to receive collections of monasteries, such as bells, crosses and iconostases. Then a nature department appeared with collections of flora, fauna and fossil remains.
At the moment, the Museum-Reserve of Veliky Ustyug consists of a network of museum objects:
- Ethnography.
- Nature.
- New Year's toys.
- Old Russian art.
- History and culture of the city.
- Exposition for children.
Over 100 thousand people visit it annually. Expositions occupy over 3 thousand square meters. m
The main building of the Museum of the Great Iron is a pink mansion of the second half of the 18th century, which is decorated with stucco decoration.
Inspection of museum departments costs 120 rubles for adults, 90 for students and retirees, and 60 for schoolchildren and preschoolers. The museum offers visitors of the city over 10 options for excursions on historical and cultural subjects and various events, for example, a graduation ceremony for 2000 rubles per group and a wedding for 3500.
Museum Collections
The Museum of Great Ustyug may interest visitors with several collections.
For example, carved and painted birch bark - salt shakers, baskets and beetroots of the 19th-20th centuries. Its formation took place in the 1920s. Museum staff made expeditions to villages of the Arkhangelsk and Vologda regions. In the 1980s, products from the Velikoustyugskie Uzory enterprise began to arrive.
The next collection is wooden utensils. There are dishes (buckets and salt shakers) as well as items related to flax processing and weaving. Cabinets of the 18th-19th centuries belong to the same collection.
The museum's collection includes many items from metal. They reflect the crafts of the Russian North of the XVIII-XX centuries:
- Enamel.
- Frost on tin - chests and caskets.
- Wrought and perforated iron.
- Chaser Tools.
The porcelain collection has over 400 items. Some of them entered the museum in 1921. There are porcelain products not only of Russian pre-revolutionary manufacturers, but also of Chinese (a jug of the 18th century) and Japanese (vases of the beginning of the 20th century).
The stele collection has over 350 items. The most valuable can be attributed to glasses, wineglasses and damaskes of the XVIII century.
And finally, the museum has a large collection of graphics. More than 1,500 works, from Albrecht Dürer and Bray the Elder to Soviet posters of different years. In 2008-2012. 50 works by I.T. Bogdesko. At the moment, this is the largest collection of graphic art in it.
Monuments and departments of the museum
A feature of the museum is that all its departments are monuments of architecture. For example, a small exhibition hall is located in the one-dome Vlasyevsky church of the XVII century. The subjects of the exhibitions are different: costumes of the Russian North, theatrical dolls, paper products and paintings by artists with images of Great Ustyug and the beauties of the Russian North.
The 17th century Ascension Church houses a museum of ancient Russian art. Among its exhibits there are icons and shrouds of the XV-XVI centuries and a worship cross of 1625.
The Museum of Ethnography is located within the walls of the Church of St. Nicholas Gostunsky, it occupies two floors. The theme of the exposition is the work of Ustyug craftswomen, wood carving, forging and ceramics.
The Museum of Nature of the Territory is located on the embankment near Lenin Square and the city administration. Its building is a one-story outbuilding of a former merchant's house.
Museum of New Year's toys in Veliky Ustyug
It is located in a beautiful building of the five-domed church of the 18th century on Kommuna Square, d. 7, that is, next to Rechnikov Square, the monument to S.M. Kirov and Lake Alexander. You can get to it on Sovetsky Prospekt. A collection of Christmas toys began to be collected in 1998 in connection with the project “Fatherland of the Frost”. Exhibits relate mainly to the 20th century. Among the oldest, it is worth noting a chimney sweep toy from Germany, made at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. Some exhibits are very funny, for example, Soviet toys of the 1940-1950s - a bear with a ball and a cat with a bow.
The Toy Museum in Veliky Ustyug is open from 10:00 to 18:00 with a lunch break from 12:00 to 13:00. The cash desk is closed at 17:00. Weekends are Monday and Sunday.
It should be remembered that the museum can be closed for re-exposure or change its schedule during the New Year holidays.
Children's Museum Center
Children at the Museum of Great Ustyug can have fun. Examination of the exposition can be supplemented by various types of educational events:
- Lessons at the old Russian school. They are held in the Museum of New Year's toys.
- Classes on flax and bast shoes in the Museum of Ethnography.
- Painting workshop.
- Classes at the planetarium.
- Birthday Celebrations.
Actually the children's museum center is located in the house of Chebaevsky - a beautiful building, as if consisting of two blocks with a rotunda and a dome completion.
How to get to Veliky Ustyug?
From Moscow to Veliky Ustyug can be reached by bus. It leaves at 00:15, 08:15, 11:15, 15:15 and 16:00 from the bus station near the VDNH metro station. The trip takes 13 hours, the ticket costs 2000 rubles.
For 4 hours and 4000 rubles from the capital to Veliky Ustyug, you can fly on a Severstal airline from Domodedovo Airport.
There are no direct trains from the capital, so you need to go to the Kotlas station, where flights from Belorussky and Yaroslavsky stations depart according to the following schedule:
- 03:32.
- 12:50.
- 13:05.
- 20:35.
- 21:50.
The trip takes about 18 hours. Trains can be branded and conventional. For 1000 rubles you can actually get in a seated car, for 200 - in a reserved seat, for 2300 - in a compartment and for 6300 - in a bedroom.
From Kotlas to Veliky Ustyug in 1.5 hours and 140 rubles can be reached by bus from Railway Station Square. They run from 6 AM to 8 PM, but later flights are also possible.