Pytalovo Museum of Peoples' Friendship

About museum

In 1985, an initiative group to organize a district museum was formed under the Pytalovo District Department of Culture and the cultural and sports complex. The group included war and labor veterans, representatives of the district committee of the CPSU and the district executive committee, educational and cultural institutions, and members of the district public. It was led by N. A. Tsvetkov, head of the public museum at the Borousovo eight-year school. They worked on restoring the building and collecting exhibits for the future museum. The arrangement of the collected materials was carried out by a group of artists from Latvia – E. Simsons, E. Pluksna and D. Zaroms, and artists from Belarus executed a decorative colored bas-relief on the eastern facade of the building.
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\r\nWar veterans N. I. Shamyakov and N. I. Baikov took an active part in collecting exhibits; the thematic-exposition plan of the museum was prepared with the involvement of I. I. Lagunin, an employee of the Pskov Museum-Reserve.
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\r\nIn April 1986, excursions through the first two sections of the exhibition were conducted for war and labor veterans of the Pytalovo district. This can be considered the 'birthday' of the museum.
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\r\nAt that time, builders from 12 Soviet republics constructed the Belorussky settlement in the Pytalovo district, complete with modern infrastructure. Cultural ties were established with neighboring Latvia and with Belarus. For this reason, the museum came to be called the Museum of Peoples' Friendship. This name remains relevant today, since the Pytalovo district is a border district.
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\r\nOn January 27, 1987, by decision of the Pskov Regional Executive Committee, the Pytalovo Museum of Peoples' Friendship was transferred to the Pskov State Historical-Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve as a branch.
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\r\nAnd on April 22, 1987, on the 117th anniversary of the birth of V. I. Lenin, a momentous event took place in the history of our town and district. On that day the official opening of our museum was held. Invited to the opening were war and labor veterans, members of the town public, the director of the Pskov Historical-Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve A. I. Golyshev, and guests from the neighboring town of Vilaka in Latvia (a delegation from Vilaka Secondary School).