"Vikings. Way to the East"

The exhibition is based on archaeological materials from the funds of the Historical Museum and is dedicated to the life and culture of immigrants from Scandinavia.

“The Viking Age lasted from the end of the 8th to the middle of the 11th century. In this era, the "people of the north" - the Normans, terrified the inhabitants of Western Europe with their unexpected and brutal raids. But in Eastern Europe the Vikings played a completely different role - mastering the river routes to the riches of the Arab Caliphate and the Byzantine Empire, they were a catalyst for socio-economic processes that ultimately led to the formation of the Old Russian State, ”says Alexei Levykin, director.

The central image of the exhibition will be the reconstruction of a ship - a symbol of military and trade campaigns. The process of military development of river routes will be demonstrated by items of retinue culture: weapons, armor and equipment of an equestrian warrior. Among them is a unique collection of helmets. One of them has survived only in fragments and was exhibited for the first time accompanied by a 3-D reconstruction. Recently discovered hoards of silver coins will illustrate the extensive trade ties of the Vikings, from Eastern Europe to the Arab Caliphate.

Natives of Scandinavia were not only fearless warriors, but also skilled artisans - jewelers, blacksmiths, bone carvers. The exhibition presents sets of silver and bronze with gilding women’s jewelry, as well as reconstructions of outfits made by modern craftsmen using ancient technologies. The main exhibit in this section is a 10th century Chinese silk dress for women, which has no analogues in other museum collections.

A separate part of the exhibition is devoted to the results of the latest research of the museum’s archaeological collections, carried out jointly with the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute". For the first time, the materials obtained as a result of excavations of the last years of the Smolensk archaeological expedition of the Historical Museum are presented. After the completion of the restoration work, a complex of objects found during the study in 2018 of one of the richest burial mounds of the Gnezdovo archaeological complex is exhibited. The complex includes a sword, gold Byzantine coins, a set of jewelry, playing chips and much more.

Venue: Main building of the Historical Museum, New Exhibition Hall.