Ethnographic Museum, Veliky Ustyug

About museum

In 1986, after the completion of the restoration of St. Nicholas Church — an architectural monument of the 17th–19th centuries — an exhibition hall dedicated to folk culture and everyday life was opened, and in 2006 two thematic exhibitions of the Ethnographic Museum were installed in the building. The first presented the diversity of folk art of the Ustyuzhsky region from the 17th to the early 20th century, including patterned weaving, embroidery, carving, wood painting, forging, pierced metalwork and ceramics. The museum recreated a corner of a peasant izba interior, including the entrance to the golbets, doors, the stove area, partitions, standing cupboards, a cradle, chests, festive arches and spinning wheels, all decorated with bright floral brush painting. On the second floor there was an exhibition “Russian Festivals,” presenting the festival as an important part of Russian culture. A distinctive feature of the exhibition was the festive tier of the iconostasis from the Church of Dmitry of Thessalonica, consisting of 30 icons of the northern school of painting.