Description of the attraction
The Museum of the History of Stone-Cutting and Jewelry Art in Yekaterinburg is the first museum of such a profile in Russia. The institution is located in the very center of the city, in one of the most beautiful buildings and an architectural monument - the former Mountain Pharmacy, erected in 1821. The author of the building project was the famous Ural architect Mikhail Malakhov. Despite the later alterations, the complex has well preserved the typical appearance of a city manor from the period of classicism.
For the first time, the idea of creating a museum appeared at the end of the second half of the 19th century. The idea of collecting old and modern art products from ornamental and precious stones, so important and demanded for the image of the city and the entire region, was realized only in the 1990s, when the Presidium of the Soviet Cultural Foundation proposed to N. P. Pakhomova to draw up a museum program called “Peace stone . At that time, Nadezhda Petrovna Pakhomova was the chief curator of the Sverdlovsk Regional Museum of Local Lore, and she coped with the task set before her with dignity.
The official opening of the museum took place in February 1993. It is located on three floors in several halls, each of which houses several separate thematic expositions. The museum exposition presents unique mineralogical monuments. The main source of the development of jewelry and stone-cutting art on the territory of the Urals was the impressive wealth of its earthly depths. The earliest stone-cutting works in the museum's collection are considered to be works dating back to the 18th century. Here are the works of masters of the famous Yekaterinburg Imperial Lapidary Factory. The museum exposition acquaints visitors with amazing exhibits made of marble, malachite and jasper.
The Museum's Golden Pantry houses a department that is completely devoted to the history of Russian jewelry art. Thanks to the presented collection of silver and gold items, one can trace the change of artistic styles, starting from the Baroque and Rococo of the 18th century. before the beginning of the XX century.
