Local History Museum, Astrakhan: address, mode of operation, exposition

The Astrakhan State United Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve (AGOIAMZ) is one of the most important scientific, cultural and educational institutions of the Volga region and the Caspian region. It includes a magnificent complex of the local Kremlin with its towers and temples. In addition, there are 14 branches located in Astrakhan and nearby settlements in the villages of Altynzhar, Orangery, Cherniy Yar, Liman settlement and others. These include one of the oldest local museums in Russia, Known outside of Russia even in the pre-revolutionary period.

A Brief Historical Reference

The beginning of the institution, which today is known as the Regional History Museum of Astrakhan, was laid in December 1837. The initiator of his creation was Governor Ivan Semyonovich Timiryazev. In the "Provincial Museum" originally private collections were exhibited. In 1862, the institution was closed due to lack of funds. In 1888, his funds were transferred to the Petrine Society. Three decades later, the museum exposition was placed in the building of the "City Institutions", in which they are located at the moment. Already in the Soviet period in 1974, the museum was handed over to the Astrakhan Kremlin. It became the basis of AGOIAMZ, created by the government of the USSR in 1980.

Ground floor of the museum

Inspection of the exposition of the Regional History Museum of Astrakhan begins with a hall telling about the riches of the Volga-Caspian basin. There are stuffed rare fish-giants and a dry aquarium with representatives of the ichthyofauna of these places.

Further, visitors visiting the hall "Living Earth's past", in which you can find out about which animals inhabited the territory of modern Astrakhan region more than 300 000 years ago. There is a collection of teeth of fossil animals and models of some fauna that disappeared hundreds and tens of thousands of years ago.

In the hall dedicated to the history of the Astrakhan region of the XIX - early XX century, you can see the interiors of the dwellings of citizens of different classes, including workshops of artisans.

A separate exposition is devoted to the military and civil governors who ruled this region of the Russian Empire for 2 centuries. Its part is the reconstructed interior of the cabinet of such an official of the middle of the century before last.

In the next hall of the Museum of Astrakhan visitors are invited to get acquainted with works of art in which the events that took place in the lower reaches of the Volga and adjacent territories in the 20th century, such as the Civil War, establishment of Soviet power, participation of the local population in the Second World War and economic development in 50 -80's.

Second floor: temporary exposition

The regional museum of Astrakhan regularly organizes temporary exhibitions. They are held in the halls located on the 2 nd floor of the building. At the moment, there you can see the exhibits devoted to the history and original cultures of peoples who from time immemorial inhabited the Astrakhan region - the Tatars, Nogais, Russians, Persians, Armenians, Jews, Kazakhs, etc.

Third floor: natural exhibitions

In the hall devoted to the physical and geographical peculiarities of the region one can get acquainted with the water resources of these places and their relief. No less interesting is the exposition dedicated to the nature of the Volga delta, which is considered a World Heritage site. In the hall are arranged landscape dioramas representing the flowering of the lotus, the colonies of water birds, and also the seals that inhabit the Caspian Sea. Thanks to the use of modern technologies, visitors to the Regional History Museum of Astrakhan have the opportunity to listen to songbirds and to examine in detail the features of the appearance of animals.

The flora and fauna of the region is also told by the exposition of the hall "Nature of deserts and semi-deserts". It includes stuffed animals, as well as a photo of the Sands of Burly reserve.

And, finally, another exhibition, located on the 3rd floor of the museum is called "The healer's shop". There are endemic medicinal plants, as well as the collections, which are still used today for various diseases.

Expositions on the history of the region

In the hall called "Astrakhan region in antiquity" you can learn the history of the Lower Volga and adjacent lands from the prehistoric period and until they become part of the Russian state. Further, visitors to the museum can see the exposition devoted to the events that took place there in the 16th-17th centuries. In particular, exhibits describing the prerequisites for the annexation of the local Golden Horde khanate to Russia, the construction of the city, its economic development during the era of Peter the Great, the Persian campaign of 1722, etc., were found in it.

One of the most interesting in the museum is the hall called "Population of the Astrakhan Region". There, visitors learn about peoples who, in different historical periods, penetrated into its territory and entered into interaction, creating a new culture.

Another hall of the Museum of Local Lore was turned into an arsenal. It exhibits weapons and military equipment, from the Middle Ages to the present day.

Ground floor

"Gold of nomads" - an exhibition in which unique artifacts found during excavations carried out on the territory of the region are presented. The collection of items from gold and other precious metals, which are many hundreds of years, began to form in the second half of the XX century. It includes decorations of the Sarmatian leader from the burial place, found near the modern village of Kosik, the Yenotaev district. 2005 collection of more than 2 months exhibited in the Roman Museum Palazzo Venezia, where it made a real sensation and won world fame.

Local History Museum (Astrakhan): working hours and address

You can get acquainted with the exposition every day, except Monday from 10.00 to 19.00 (on Thursday until 21:00). Cash desks are open from 10.00 to 18.00.

The Museum of Local Lore in Astrakhan (address: 15 Sovetskaya Street) is located in the center of the city. Closest to it is the stop of public transport near the square, in which stands the monument to Alexander Pushkin, on the street. Communist. There buses stop following the routes No. 4, 13, 25, 25C and 43.

Now you know where you should visit first, for the first time you came to Astrakhan to get the maximum idea about this region, its history, nature and people who lived there for many centuries.