The branch of the State Historical Museum in Tula will open to visitors

On September 27, 2020, the State Historical Museum (GIM), the main museum of Russian national history, opens its first regional branch in Tula.

The Historical Museum on Red Square in Moscow is the largest museum in Russia. His funds store more than 4.7 million items. These are collections of archeology, numismatics, manuscripts and old printed books, ancient Russian painting, written sources, cartography, pictorial sources, weapons, precious metals, ceramics and glass, metal and synthetic materials, fabrics, wood and furniture, book fund.

For almost a century and a half, the Historical Museum has followed the basic precepts of its founders - Count A.S. Uvarov and historian I.E. Zabelin: to clearly show the course of Russian history and carefully preserve the monuments of the country’s material and spiritual culture.

The branch will open with the exhibition "Relics and Masterpieces of the Historical Museum" dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the Museum of National History of Russia.

“The Tula region is second only to Moscow and St. Petersburg in terms of the number of federal museums on its territory. And our first regional branch is opening an exhibition presenting the most valuable monuments from all 15 stock collections of the State Historical Museum, memorial relics, ”notes Alexey Levykin, Director of the Historical Museum.

Tula residents will see 268 unique exhibits from all the collections of the museum. Almost every monument is associated with a specific historical event from the 3rd millennium BC. until the first half of the twentieth century. These are relics of Russian history and culture and masterpieces of fine and decorative arts.

Many exhibits are associated with the history of the Tula Territory: the Book of Degrees in the 17th century, on the pages of which Tula is mentioned, the collection of columns "Aleksinsky" of the 17th century, the Charter of Kings John and Peter Alekseevich to Mikhail Ivanovich Ofrosimov, dated March 18, 1685, Collection of Tula (XVIII century) from the collection of the collector I. P. Sakharov, autographs of L. N. Tolstoy, lithographs depicting the Tula Kremlin.

The first hall of the branch’s exhibition space houses tactile models of key monuments of the Historical Museum, which will allow blind and visually impaired visitors to learn about the formation of the state.

The tactile exposition opens with a model of an idol - one of the unique monuments of the Galich treasure of the Bronze Age. Idol refers to shamanic attributes that helped the mediator between the world of the living and the world of spirits to protect people from evil otherworldly forces. The model of the ceremonial ax continues the tactile exposition. The images on it allow us to consider the ax as a symbol of power, used for ritual purposes. The history of the emergence of the Russian state is traced from the Bronze and Early Iron Ages to the 19th century. Tactile models represent both symbols of power (medals, coins, rings), as well as personal belongings and images of royalty. The tactile exposition ends with a portrait of the last Russian emperor Nicholas II, painted by the famous artist I.E.Repin in 1896.

The Tula branch of the Historical Museum is located in the museum quarter - house number 10 on Metallistov street. This is the former mansion of the merchant Ivan Mikhailovich Belolipetskiy.

The new museum will host thematic excursions and classes, lectures, concerts and film screenings for visitors. The best historians will conduct subscription programs (including courses in history and social studies at the museum). The programs will be available to visitors with disabilities.

A museum shop, a cafe will also be opened here, and a children’s educational center will soon start working. In addition, by the end of 2020, the museum will launch a volunteer and internship program for history students.