Veliky Ustyug recently celebrated its 870th anniversary. This small town is one of the best holiday options in the Russian North. It is worth driving there from neighboring Kotlas in winter to visit the residence of Father Frost. In addition to it, the Museum of Veliky Ustyug deserves attention
History of the Museum
The Veliky Ustyug Museum dates back to 1910. One of the oldest museums in the Russian North. Initially, it was an ancient repository, where church and early printed books, ancient manuscripts, icons, sculptures, monastic documents and portraits of bishops were received.
Exhibits came from the monasteries of Veliky Ustyug and from the priests of 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 from monasteries, such as bells, crosses and iconostases. Then the department of nature appeared with collections of flora, fauna and fossils.
Currently Museum-ReserveVeliky Ustyug consists of a network of museum objects:
- Ethnography.
- Nature.
- Christmas toys.
- Old Russian art.
- History and culture of the city.
- Exposure for children.
Every year it is visited by more than 100 thousand people. The 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 the museum departments costs 120 rubles for adults, 90 for students and pensioners and 60 for schoolchildren and preschoolers. The museum offers guests of the city over 10 options for excursions on historical and cultural topics and various events, such as graduation for 2000 rubles per group and a wedding for 3500.
Museum Collections
The Museum of Veliky Ustyug may interest visitors with several collections.
For example, carved and painted birch bark - s alt shakers, baskets and beetroots of the 19th-20th centuries. Its formation took place in the 1920s. Museum staff made expeditions to the villages of the Arkhangelsk and Vologda regions. In the 1980s, products from Veliky Ustyug Uzory began to arrive.
The next collection is wooden utensils. There are both utensils (ladles and s alt shakers) and items related to linen processing and weaving. The same collection includes cabinets from the 18th-19th centuries.
The museum's collection includes many metal objects. They reflect the crafts of the Russian North in the 18th-20th centuries:
- Enamel.
- Frost on the tin -chests and boxes.
- Forged and perforated iron.
- Master's tools.
The collection of porcelain has over 400 items. Some of them entered the museum in 1921. There are porcelain items not only from Russian pre-revolutionary manufacturers, but also from China (a jug of the 18th century) and Japanese (vases from the beginning of the 20th century).
The stele collection has more than 350 items. The most valuable are glasses, glasses and bottles of the 18th century.
And, finally, the museum has a large collection of graphics. More than 1500 works, from Albrecht Dürer and Brey the Elder to Soviet posters from different years. In 2008-2012 the museum received 50 works by I. T. Bogdesko. At the moment, this is the largest collection of author's graphics in it.
Architectural monuments and departments of the museum
A feature of the museum-reserve is that all its departments are architectural monuments. For example, a small exhibition hall is located in the single-domed Vlasiev Church of the 17th century. The subjects of the exhibitions are different: costumes of the Russian North, theatrical puppets, paper products and paintings by artists depicting Veliky Ustyug and the beauties of the Russian North.
In the Church of the Ascension of the XVII century there is a museum of ancient Russian art. Among its exhibits there are icons and shrouds of the 15th-16th centuries and a worship cross from 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, woodcarving, forging andceramics.
The Regional Museum of Nature is located on the embankment near Lenin Square and the city administration. Its building is a one-story wing of the former merchant's house.
Museum of Christmas Toys in Veliky Ustyug
It is located in a beautiful building of the five-domed church of the 18th century on Kommuny Square, 7, that is, next to Rechnikov Square, a monument to S. M. Kirov and Alexander Lake. You can get to it along Sovetsky Prospekt. The collection of Christmas decorations began to be collected in 1998 in connection with the Father Frost Homeland project. The exhibits belong mainly to the 20th century. Among the oldest, it is worth noting a chimney sweep toy from Germany, made at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. Some of the exhibits are quite funny, for example, Soviet toys from the 1940s-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 box office closes at 17:00. Days off - Monday and Sunday.
It should be remembered that the museum may be closed for re-exposition or change its opening hours during the New Year holidays.
Children's Museum Center
Children in the Museum of Veliky Ustyug can have an interesting time. Viewing the exposition can be supplemented with various types of educational activities:
- Lessons at the old Russian school. They are held at the New Year's Toy Museum.
- Classes on linen and bast shoes at the Museum of Ethnography.
- Master class on painting.
- Classes inplanetariums.
- Birthday celebrations.
Actually, the children's museum center is located in the Chebaevsky house - a beautiful building, consisting of two blocks with a rotunda and a dome.
How to get to Veliky Ustyug?
From Moscow to Veliky Ustyug can be reached by bus. It departs at 00:15, 08:15, 11:15, 15:15 and 16:00 from the bus station near the VDNKh 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 plane from Domodedovo airport.
There are no direct trains from the capital, so you need to go to 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 regular. For 1000 rubles it is really possible to get in a seated car, for 200 - in a reserved seat, for 2300 - in a compartment and for 6300 - in a sleeping car.
From Kotlas to Veliky Ustyug in 1.5 hours and 140 rubles can be reached by bus from Station Square. They operate from 6 am to 8 pm, but later flights are possible.
