Murmansk is not distinguished by an abundance of historical monuments, along with other major cities of our country. However, it is already very beautiful, original and therefore attractive to every lover of tourism. In this article, I would like to take a look at the best museums in Murmansk, opening hours, interesting facts.
Local History Museum
The oldest museum in the region is the local history museum. The institution, which is located at the address: Lenina Avenue, house 90, is engaged in the search, storage, acquisition and promotion of historical monuments.
The main feature of the museum is the unique exposition of the seabed, which is the only one of its kind in Russia. The geological exhibit was once extracted from a depth of about 12 km during the drilling of the Kola well.
In general, the museum expositions are able to tell the visitor of the institution about the history of the region, from ancient times to the present day.
Art Museum
Let's continue to explore the museums of Murmansk. Next on our list is the city's art museum, which can be found atKomintern, house 13. The institution works from Wednesday to Sunday from 11 am to 6 pm.
The Art Museum (Murmansk) is the only institution in the Arctic that is entirely dedicated to the fine arts. It is based in an old building erected back in 1927. It is noteworthy that the building at one time was the first stone building in the city. The rest of the buildings at that time were made of wood.
The Art Museum (Murmansk) keeps within its walls mainly works of domestic masters of fine arts. Recently, modern expositions have been exhibited more and more often. Today, about 4,000 items are stored here.
In addition to exhibition activities, the institution is engaged in pedagogical and educational work. The art museum regularly organizes informative lectures, meetings with famous personalities and artists.
Museum of the Northern Fleet
Museum of the Northern Fleet (Murmansk) can be found at 15 Tortseva Street. There are 10 halls for exposition here, the total area of which is about 1200 m2. Other museums in Murmansk cannot boast such an impressive area dedicated to exhibition halls.
The museum exhibits materials related to the history of the Northern Fleet, its origin. First of all, these are documents of sailors, old photographs, exhibits of the Great Patriotic War. The expositions presented in the museum,are able to acquaint the visitor of the institution with the peculiarities of the development of the submarine fleet, naval aviation, and the history of individual ships. To date, the museum has more than 65,000 exhibits.
Nuclear icebreaker "Lenin"
While surveying the most noteworthy museums of Murmansk, one cannot ignore the Lenin icebreaker, an old ship, which in itself is one big exposition. The presented museum receives its visitors at the following address: Portovy passage, Pontoon pier of the Marine Station. The institution operates from Wednesday to Sunday from 12 am to 3 pm.
The icebreaker "Lenin" is the world's first surface vessel that had a nuclear power plant. The ship was built in 1956 in Leningrad. In 1959, the icebreaker went on its maiden voyage. The ship has been in operation for 30 years.
Today the icebreaker is permanently moored in the port of Murmansk. Gradually, work is underway to transform it into a museum. Anyone who is interested in the history of the Russian fleet will be interested in visiting such a place.
Museum of the Murmansk Shipping Company
Coming to the end of reviewing the best museums of Murmansk, let's talk about an institution dedicated to shipping. The museum is located at the address: Volodarsky street, house 6. Visiting the exhibition halls is available on weekdays from 9:00 to 17:00.
Museum of the Murmansk Shipping Company was organized in 1977. This is one of the few institutions where expositions are presented, which in detailreveal the history of the development of the northern sea routes by domestic sailors.
During the existence of the museum, unique photographic documents of their kind have been concentrated here, large-scale portrait galleries have been organized. Among the expositions of the institution you can see old ship bells, marine instruments of the past era, models of ship nuclear reactors, stuffed animals of Arctic animals, etc.
The real admiration of the museum visitors is the collection of miniature ship models. The smallest model, the Vologda steamer, is only 14 cm long.
The viewer is also interested in a diorama that tells about the development of the Northern Sea Route. Here you can see the ship standing under unloading. Authentic figurines of sailors are located on its deck. The exposure is surrounded by a realistic glow that mimics the aurora borealis.
