Mineralogical Museum

About museum

The Mineralogical Museum was founded in 1785 and is the successor to the Cabinet of Natural History of the Teachers' Seminary. It is the oldest mineralogical museum in Russia. Prominent scientists such as D. I. Mendeleev, E. K. Hoffman and others contributed to the mineral collection. The museum's holdings comprise over 30,000 specimens (870 mineral species), including a systematic collection, memorial collections, a meteorite collection, a photographic illustrative collection, a collection of manuscripts and field materials, and a reference and supporting literature collection. The museum also houses minerals associated with the discovery of new chemical elements by D. I. Mendeleev and other scientists. In the 19th century E. K. Hoffman acquired a collection of diamonds and associated minerals that made it possible to develop a method of prospecting for diamonds by their associated minerals. This method helped to discover the first primary diamond deposit in the USSR.