Description of the attraction
The first museum of Novgorod was created in 1865 on May 18. It was founded by order of Emperor Alexander II and occupies an honorable place in the list of the oldest museums in Russia. Due to the rather long time of its formation, the Novgorod museum has become one of the largest in the territory of the Russian Federation.
The founder of the museum is Nikolai Bogoslovsky, secretary of the Provincial Committee of Statistics of the city of Novgorod, clergyman, archaeologist, ethnographer, and is also the author of several works of art and historical research.
After the revolution, the Novgorod museum was replenished thanks to the seizure of church property, the disbandment and liquidation of private museums-estates: Maryino, Vybit, Gruzino, Peredolsky, Molochnikov. Since the 1930s, the museum has been replenished thanks to archaeological expeditions. From 1917 to 1940, all city monuments of architectural, artistic and historical value were transferred to the management of the museum.
During the Second World War, valuable architectural monuments were destroyed, part of the collection was taken to Germany, and part of it was completely destroyed. But already in 1944, after the liberation of Novgorod, vigorous activities were being carried out to return the exported valuables. The post-war period became a stage in the restoration of the museum. Initially, the museum acted as a regional local history organization. Today it has federal status. The Novgorod Museum-Reserve is included in the Code of the most valuable objects of cultural heritage of the peoples of Russia.
The central part of the Novgorod Museum-Reserve is located in the building of the former government offices in the Novgorod Kremlin. The entrance to the museum is protected by lions cast from cast iron. The Novgorod Museum-Reserve is unique. Its branches are located in many buildings and even in various cities of the Novgorod region. The museum includes 170 buildings, some of them are architectural monuments of the past centuries. A considerable part of the objects of the Novgorod Museum, by decision of UNESCO, is included in the List of World Cultural Heritage.
The museum keeps 655,400 exhibits, most of which are items of the main fund. The greatest value and uniqueness of the Novgorod Museum is represented by the collections: archaeological, jewelry, decorative and applied arts of the 10-20th centuries, ancient Russian icon painting, numismatics, heraldry, manuscript and early printed books, ancient Russian embroidery, graphics, as well as works of fine art, sculpture and painting 18 -20th century.
The presented collections of the museum make it possible to trace the formation of the city of Novgorod over several centuries, to learn and comprehend the relationship between the history and artistic development of both the city itself and the entire land of Novgorod.
The museum has preserved all its branches - Valdai, Chudovo, Borovichi, Veliky Novgorod, Staraya Russa. It has permanent expositions, new ones are being created all the time, exhibitions are functioning, both permanent and visiting. Within the museum-reserve there are 17 departments, each of which is engaged in restoration, educational, scientific, excursion and other activities.
The Novgorod Museum-Reserve holds events for children and adolescents, offers sightseeing tours of memorable places for residents and guests of the city, master classes on folk art in the Children's Museum Center, folklore and cultural programs related to the holidays of the folk calendar. The museum is widely known for its art and archaeological collections, both in our country and abroad.
