The Airborne Forces, or Airborne Forces for short, have become a real symbol of national prowess, courage and courage. The Airborne Forces are often associated with vests and berets, as well as bathing he althy men in city fountains during the celebration of the day of the same name. However, over time, the Airborne Forces Museum in Ryazan was added to this collective image. What is this attraction? What is special about her? And what is its origin story?
The idea of creating a museum
The idea of creating such a unique place in Ryazan came up with the well-known progenitor and one of the first army commanders, Vasily Filippovich Margelov. At that time, the general took command of the armed landing troops, highlighting their incredible reaction speed, mobility and high level of technical equipment.
Thanks to him, not only the Museum of the History of the Airborne Forces in Ryazan was created, but also the beginningmass production of such military equipment as heavy landing equipment, cargo delivery vehicles and soldiers. However, the very decision to organize a museum of memory and history of the airborne troops belonged to the former Soviet Marshal A. A. Grechko.
When did the museum open?
The official opening of the only Airborne Forces Museum in the world in Ryazan took place at the end of July 1972. Interestingly, this date was not chosen by chance. It is she who is directly related to the first day of graduation of cadets of the specialized Ryazan airborne school. By the way, this educational institution is still working today.
Where is the museum building?
The Museum of the Airborne Forces in Ryazan is located in the room where the theological seminary was once located. Previously, it could be found along Seminarskaya Street. If we talk about the legal address, then it refers to Margelov Square. As you can see, the name of the square is directly related to the name of the general who took an active part in the opening of the museum.
So, the exact address of the Airborne Forces Museum in Ryazan: pl. Margelov, house 1. However, the museum also has branches, in which there are completely different thematic halls of the museum. So, the Historical and Memorial Hall of military equipment and weapons of the Airborne Forces is located at the address: st. Military Motorists, 12. There is also another Historical and Memorial Hall with a large fleet of military equipment. In the same building, everyone can visit the Historical and Memorial Hall of Command and Communications of the Airborne Forces.
How to get to the museum?
You can get to the museum by trolleybus numbers: 1, 3, 5, 6 and 10. City buses with numbers 1, 11, 5, 13, 7 and 17 also go here. If you wish, you can use the services fixed-route taxis to the stop "Children's World", "Gorky Library" and "Lenin Square".
Opening hours of the Airborne Forces Museum in Ryazan
Everyone can visit the museum, including local residents and guests of the city. You can come here any day of the week. The doors of the museum are open from 10 am to 5 pm. However, you should not come here from 13:00 to 14:00: you risk getting on a lunch break. The same goes for every second Tuesday of the month. At this time, a sanitary day is held in the museum. Every second Wednesday of the month, the museum organizes an open day for university students and children under 18.
What relics are on display in the museum?
The Museum of the Airborne Forces in Ryazan presents a lot of interesting exhibits. Among them there are photographs, documents, newspaper clippings, uniforms, medals and other awards, samples of weapons from different times. All exhibits help to get an accurate idea of the history of the formation and development of the Airborne Forces.
What can be learned during the tour?
During an excursion at the Museum of the Airborne Forces in Ryazan, you can learn not only the history of the emergence of this kind of troops and the building itself. There are many interesting exhibits here, showing and telling about the following main points:
- the important role of paratroopers induring the Great Patriotic War;
- first paratroopers to parachute;
- first airborne combat vehicles with crew;
- Russian landing at the North Pole;
- interesting facts about paratroopers.
Also, during the tour, it is quite possible to learn an entertaining story related to the second, playful decoding of the abbreviation. As it turned out, the Airborne Forces also stands for "Uncle Vasya's Troops."
The cinema hall of the museum and its features
In addition to the spacious halls, the museum has a large auditorium. It shows historically significant films that clearly show the activities of paratroopers at different times. For example, while watching such documentaries, one can see footage from peacekeeping missions that took place in Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Abkhazia. There are also interesting tapes about the events of the Great Patriotic War.
How many rooms are there in the museum?
From the moment of opening and up to 2016, more and more new halls appeared in the museum. At the moment there are 7 large halls in the museum complex. Each of the rooms has its own exhibits, including samples of small guns, equipment and details of real landing parachutes.
However, in addition to these seven, the museum has 9 more rooms. All of them are located in different regions of the city. The largest of them is automobile. Here you can see in detail the most famous civil and military equipment in the Russian Federation.
Virtual tour of the museum
Recently, on one of the websites of a popular 3D modeling company,a virtual tour of the museum. Thanks to this service, everyone will be able to get acquainted with the expositions and halls of the museum, see a variety of military equipment, and visit the cabins of unique objects. And all this from the comfort of your own home.
Interesting facts about the museum
The museum building is unique in its architectural design, content and theme of the expositions. According to some sources, the museum fund contains over 50,000 different exhibits of historical value.
The main collection of the museum contains military banners, a large collection of old parachutes, foreign and domestic weapons, samples of parachute and landing equipment, military clothing and much more. It is noteworthy that the main exposition of the museum is located in a building erected in early 1816. Interestingly, this perfectly preserved building is considered one of the most magnificent architectural monuments of the 19th century.
