Description of the attraction
The Museum of Merchant Life in Kozmodemyansk is located in an old mansion, which is part of the estate, built in 1897 by the city merchant, timber merchant Shishokin A. I.
The building of the museum, which was built as a residential building, was later used as an office and was known as the "Gubin Brothers Trading House". From 1918 to 1970, the district committee of the RCP (b) was located in a three-story building with a mezzanine, from 1970 to 1980 - the Komsomol, from 1980 to 1995 the mansion was given to the ZhKO. In 1995, the building together with the estate was transferred to the Museum-Reserve, in 2001 it was named the Museum of Merchant Life.
The mansion with rich facade openwork carvings has several floors: a ground floor built of stone, a floor with a grand staircase and halls, the third floor is a mezzanine with mezzanine rooms. The entire building has preserved oak parquet, stucco ceilings, tiled stoves and an amazingly beautiful front staircase with chiseled balusters. The rooms are decorated with carved furniture made by goat-modemian wood-craftsmen. The exposition of the museum contains old sideboards, tables, chairs and slides with crockery of that time. In addition to household items, books, paintings, musical instruments and much more are presented, which gives an idea of the life and life of the merchants of the nineteenth century.
The museum, which tells about the life of merchants, is called a monument to the merchants who played an important role in the development of the city and turned Kozmodemyansk into one of the largest centers of timber trade in Russia in the nineteenth century.
