The State Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve 'Starina Sibirskaya' is located 200 km from Omsk and is the only 'living history' museum-reserve in the Omsk region. The reserve has reconstructed and restored old houses and estates, religious buildings, workshops and stables, and displays authentic historical artifacts. Theatrical interactive tours immerse visitors in the atmosphere of daily life in a 19th-century Siberian settlement.
Merchant Pavel Yakovlevich Gladkov's house. 1904. Photo: Viktor Dmitriev
Visitors to the museum-reserve can stroll around the Cossack outpost and try various Cossack pastimes: shoot a bow, throw knives and axes. The 'Holy Rus'' exhibition comprises three objects: the Children's Church of Alexander Nevsky, a bell tower and a monument to Saint George the Victorious. The children's church was built and consecrated by Metropolitan Theodosy of Omsk in 2005.
Archery. Photo: official museum group on VKontakte
Cossacks. Photo: official museum group on VKontakte
The bell tower is notable for the fact that its porch is supported by just a single pillar. On the second tier of the bell tower is the exhibition 'Forgotten in Siberia', dedicated to villages that disappeared around the turn of the 19th–20th centuries. The exhibition displays various items of peasant and church life: barn locks, harness fittings, forged metalwork, icons and bells. On the third tier of the bell tower is a working belfry with 9 bells.
Exhibit 'Holy Rus'. Photo: Viktor Dmitriev
On the grounds of the reserve are village huts, craft workshops and the coachman's house. Notably, Alexander Nikolaevich Radishchev, author of the novel 'A Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow', stayed in the coachman's house in 1791. At the 'Starina Sibirskaya' workshops, artisans recreate traditional clay pottery, model papier-mâché figurines, make bas-relief pictures from salted dough, and practice weaving, blacksmithing and birch-bark weaving. Visitors can attend themed master classes and create original pieces in the traditional style of the Omsk Priirtyshye.
Photo: official museum group on VKontakte
The museum regularly hosts folk festive celebrations dedicated to seasonal and church holidays. Maslenitsa, Easter, Obzhinki (harvest festival), Pokrov, Kuzminki, Soroki — all holidays are celebrated with traditional Russian flair, following the folk proverb: 'Life without a holiday is like food without bread.' Every year from December 15 to January 30 the museum opens the 'Siberian Domains of Ded Moroz'. Visitors to the museum-reserve can stay in the merchant house of Aganty Kubrin. For those passing through, we recommend setting aside a full day to see the reserve.
Merchant Aganty Yefimovich Kubrin's house. Late 19th century. Inn. Photo: Viktor Dmitriev
