Description of the attraction
The Museum of the Big Kostroma Linen Manufactory is a unique industrial museum. It is located in Kostroma, on Erokhova street, 3.
The Big Kostroma Linen Manufactory is one of the largest enterprises in the textile and linen industry in Russia. It was founded in 1866 by the merchants Kashin, Konshin, and the Tretyakov brothers. By the end of the 19th century, this linen-processing plant became the largest in Europe and was a supplier of linen fabrics for the Russian imperial court.
In the 1990s, the linen manufactory went through hard times, like many Russian manufactures. The company, which has always been considered the hallmark of the city, found itself in a deep financial hole. Today, production is receiving its rebirth.
By 2003, the Big Kostroma Linen Manufactory took a leading position in the production of fabrics in Russia. Thanks to the efforts of the new management of the enterprise and the attraction of large investments, production has gained momentum and improved the quality of products. Ivanovtsy invested huge sums in linen business in Kostroma. Twenty million rubles and five hundred thousand dollars were invested in the reconstruction of the spinning mill to purchase new equipment for the finishing shop.
The Linen Manufactory Museum includes an exhibition hall and an assortment room. In addition, during a tour of the museum, you can visit the operating production.
In the museum of the manufactory, you can trace and get acquainted with all the stages of the production of homespun canvases. Here you can learn how in the old days flax was collected on the Kostroma land, then fiber was made from it, and then thread. It will be just as interesting to learn about the extraordinary properties of Kostroma flax, which has long been considered the wealth of this region and the basis of such a well-known brand as “Kostroma - the flax capital of Russia”.
The basis of the exposition dedicated to the history of production are photographs, documents, archival materials that immerse visitors in the mysterious world of the production of linen fabrics, the history of the enterprise. The exposition telling about the history of the manufacture is very unusual. The story is told through acquaintance with the persons who glorified the Big Kostroma Linen Manufactory at all stages of its history. The production began its life with the arrival of the Tretyakov brothers in Kostroma. Then visitors get acquainted with the personalities of the great revolutionaries who glorified production, as well as the Stakhanovites, who were awarded numerous orders and medals for their valiant work, famous scientists who raised the enterprise and to whom it owes its further development.
Another unique feature of the museum is the assortment cabinet. You can assess the level of development over the past 150 years of the Kostroma linen industry here by touching the fabrics. Here you can see world-famous samples of fabrics of the 19-20 centuries. After "communication" with fine samples of flax, which are genuine works of art, one can easily believe in the myth about the existence of the "golden fleece" linen, sought by the Argonauts.
The most interesting and exciting moment of the excursion is a visit to the operating weaving production of the manufactory. An indelible impression on the guests of the museum is made by the atmosphere of a working enterprise with its uniform noise of machines and communication with representatives of its labor collective.
