Northern Maritime Museum in Arkhangelsk: expositions, outdoor exhibits, reviews

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:40

The Northern Maritime Museum of Arkhangelsk is located in its historical part. Where the first monastery walls appeared in the 15th century. The museum building is a former marine station.

The exposition appeared in 1970 thanks to the initiative of the sailors of the North Sea Shipping Company. The museum's collection tells the story of the exploration of the northern seas since the reign of Peter I. Today the museum has the status of a state museum.

Materials of the main exhibition

Moscow artist E. Bogdanov worked on the design project of the Millennium of Northern Navigation exposition. He divided all the prepared material into two groups. The first tells about the sailing fleet of the northern seas, in time it is a segment from the 11th to the middle of the 19th century. The second part of the exhibition shows the development of shipbuilding, showing ships with metal hulls. These events take place from the end of the 19th to the 20th century.

They are of great valueoriginal documents, old maps, rare books, which are presented in the Northern Maritime Museum. The collection contains numerous models of ships and ships, devices and devices, all kinds of marine equipment. There are more than 20 thousand items in the depository, and museum staff can tell a lot of interesting things about each of the items. All items participate in the creation of the main expositions and temporary thematic exhibitions.

Decoration of the exposition space

Visitors, starting the inspection, according to the artist's intention, find themselves on board a sailing ship. The skeleton of its body occupies almost the entire area of the hall. Details of the rigging, elements of the ship's structure, and sails overhead, made with great precision, create the illusion of a ship moving in the northern seas. This feeling is enhanced by glass, transparent or frosted showcases with exhibits reminiscent of snow ice and icebergs.

The guide gives material for noise design: through the wind you can hear the waves beating against the side of the ship and the cries of seagulls. In such an environment, interest in the story of the origin of navigation in the northern waters, of unforgettable dates and moments in the history of conquering the seas and shipbuilding, is greatly increased. The tour is sure to impress! After it, local residents and guests of the city, who visited the Northern Maritime Museum of Arkhangelsk, learned the names of brave people, conquerors of the cold seas.

City of Military Glory

Museum staff, using the main exhibition area, conduct interesting excursions. no oneleaves indifferent the theme of the city - the defender of the Motherland:

Northern war for Russian ships to enter the B altic Sea.
World War I with attempts to blockade Russia.
Arctic convoys of ships to the Soviet port cities of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk.

All these are important historical events in the life of the state, artifacts about which are carefully stored in the Northern Maritime Museum.

For centuries, during all wars, the construction of warships did not stop in the city. Military equipment from all over the world passed through the port city of Arkhangelsk. The price of victory was high: every fourth inhabitant died in the Great Patriotic War.

Arctic icebreakers

Another excursion is held on the basis of the main exposition. Museum specialists have developed a thematic lesson on the emergence and development of the icebreaker fleet in the country. Today, Russia is the only owner of nuclear-powered icebreakers, which ensured the constant presence of Russian specialists in the Arctic. Such ships are used for escorting ships in northern waters at any time of the year, for conducting research expeditions, for rescue operations in ice.

The exposition of the Northern Maritime Museum of Arkhangelsk will tell about the stages of development of the icebreaking fleet, about the participation of city residents in its creation and operation.

Polar convoys

Humanitarian aid shipments, as well as the supply of weapons and ammunition under the Lend-Lease program from our northern neighbors and the United States, were of great importance for the victory of the USSR. arctic convoys,warships escorted cargo caravans from Great Britain to Arkhangelsk and Murmansk. From 1941 to 1945, 78 convoys were carried out, 1400 ships arrived safely at the port of destination.

Each convoy of any state had two identifiers in its name, for the USSR it was PQ (number), the return flight was QP (number). The exploits of the sailors who took part in this work are narrated during this thematic excursion.

Museum Exhibition Hall

Modern space allows you to quickly change the collection, but, what is important and interesting, to modify the site itself. Exhibitions change in this hall once a quarter, the topics of the disclosed expositions are very different. During the preparation of the material, the museum staff use all the opportunities provided to them: from the mobility of space to the careful selection of material and its design.

Necessary video materials can be projected on a large screen, information blocks draw visitors' attention to necessary events and dates. Produced lighting and sound design. That is, the researchers of the Northern Maritime Museum have the opportunity to show their creative abilities, immerse visitors in the story being told, and demonstrate their point of view on a particular topic.

Master classes and community activities

The museum does a lot of work among the locals. Those wishing to visit an unscheduled excursion or take part in a master class haveopportunity to pre-register.

Interesting for adults of all ages and children can be a lesson on knitting marine knots offered by the museum. During the work, a lot of interesting things will be told about this skill of each sailor. Participants of the master class will learn what knots are, in what cases they are used, and try themselves as experienced sailors.

Recently, the museum hosted a presentation of the Pomeranian Schooner project. It preceded the start of construction of this traditional, Nordic vessel. For those who wish, the museum staff together with shipbuilders show drawings and explain the stages of work. The purpose of such meetings is the revival and development of historical shipbuilding in Arkhangelsk. The schooner is a continuation of the Pomeranian longboat project.

Outdoor exhibits of the Northern Maritime Museum

The area adjacent to the building is also used by employees to display exhibits. On the way to the museum there is a large ship's equipment: chains, anchors, guns. But the most valuable are the busts of the pioneers of the Arctic routes. The author of the works installed on this walk of fame is the muralist sculptor R. Kh. Muradyan. Here are some names.

A. M. Kurochkin is a Russian shipbuilder who lived until the middle of the 19th century in Arkhangelsk. Almost 90 ships were launched under his leadership, including the well-known battleship Azov, the first to receive the highest award - the stern St. George flag.

Oh. Yu. Schmidt - Soviet geographer, geophysicist,mathematician, explorer of the Arctic. In 1932, he led an expedition on the steamer-icebreaker Sibiryakov, making the first crossing of the Northern Sea Route in one navigation.

G. Y. Sedov - Russian hydrographer, explorer of the Arctic. An expedition organized by him to the North Pole in 1912 failed. After two winterings, sick Sedov, with two sailors on dog sleds, nevertheless tried to reach the goal, but this led to his death.

I. D. Papanin - geographer, doctor of sciences, rear admiral, twice Hero of the Soviet Union. Since 1932, he headed the polar stations on Franz Josef Land, on Cape Chelyuskin, the drifting station "North Pole". During the war years, he worked as the head of the Main Northern Sea Route.