Patriotism is one of the most important personality traits. To love one’s land, to know its history, material and spiritual culture, to respect one’s native language is an internal need of a highly moral person.
The treasury of artifacts characteristic of a particular area are local history museums. Thanks to the efforts of historians, archaeologists, guides, caretakers, researchers, funds are periodically replenished, updated, and visitors learn a lot of new and interesting things about their native places.
Museums specializing in local history are open in all regions of the country. Voronezh land is no exception. Experienced guides of one of the major cultural objects of the Central Black Earth Region will help to spend time with benefit, gain new knowledge on history, cultural studies, feel pride in your city or village. So, Voronezh, museum of local lore.
How it all began
Residents and guests of Voronezh first visited the treasure depository of their native land in 1894. Initially, they planned to open a museum of achievements of Peter I.
In 1857, an official N. Vtorov, studying the history and ethnography of the region, took the initiative to create a museum of local lore. The initiative was supported only in 1890 by the assuming office of Governor E.A. Krukovsky. A year later, Voronezh was able to boast of its own repository of historical values. The local history museum was opened on September 9 (21). The collection consisted of about two thousand four hundred artifacts, including books, coins, maps, etc.
Thanks to the efforts of enthusiasts, funds were periodically replenished. The studies were carried out near the sites of the Mayatskoye, Chastny Kurgan, the Divnogorsk monastery, and the village of Mazurka. As a result, Voronezh (Museum of Local Lore) received new valuable exhibits. So many objects gathered that in 1911 the museum moved to a new building. They did not have time to restore the construction because of the 1917 Revolution and the Civil War. The priority task of the museum staff was to preserve the existing values. Scientific research was resumed only in 1923.
During the Great Patriotic War, some of the exhibits were evacuated to Kazakhstan, however, many valuable things were lost forever. In 1943, the museum returned to Voronezh, where it was merged with the Anti-Religious Museum.
In 1959, the building on 29 Plekhanovskaya Street was allocated to the treasury of history and culture of the native land.
Expositions
The museum consists of a main and four more expositions. The main exposition is dedicated to the history of the Voronezh region. The exhibits are presented here, thanks to which it is easy to imagine how the foundation of the Voronezh fortress took place, ships were built, the first settlers arranged their life. No less informative are the exhibitions about the post-war life of the city, space, and the “Sweet History”, dedicated to the 175th anniversary of sugar beet- based production on these lands .
At the exhibition of arms demonstrate bows, arrows, pistols, machine guns, rifles. In the hall “Museum relics” visitors are offered old coins, crockery made of porcelain and art glass, paintings, sculptures, photographs of past years, furniture.
The following two expositions represent the fauna of the region. Voronezh (Museum of Local Lore) has the largest collection of insects in Central Russia, among which there are tarantulas and scorpions.
Various expositions are also shown in the branches of the museum.
Scientific work
Employees of the institution conduct scientific research, publish booklets, teaching aids, collections of scientific papers.
The latest works of scientists are the booklet “Voronezh Regional Museum of Local Lore”, manuals “Vivat, Voronezh!”, “Methodology of excursion work”, a collection of reports from the conference dedicated to the thirtieth anniversary of A.L. Durov, etc.
Other museums in Voronezh
In addition to the study of local lore, the city operates the Literary Museum named after I.S. Nikitin, Manor of a nobleman D. Venevitinov, I.N. Kramskoy, Theatrical Puppet Museum of the local Puppet Theater "Jester".
The city is famous for such attractions as the North Bridge, the ship "Mekruriy", a monument to deoxyribonucleic acid, Divnogorsk Monastery. For the first time, airborne assault forces of the USSR landed on Voronezh land.