Museum of the History of Fruit Growing of the Middle Urals

About museum

In the former living rooms of the two-story mansion — the entrance hall and the drawing room — a memorial exhibition of the Museum of the History of Fruit Growing of the Middle Urals dedicated to Kazantsev is housed. An accountant by profession and a breeder by vocation, he bought this house, built at the end of the 18th century, in 1913. Many personal belongings of Dmitry Ivanovich have been preserved (for example, a large writing desk), as well as items of his wife and children, household objects of the family.

The museum's main pride is the centennial orchard that Kazantsev established in 1914. For the first time in the Urals he began to grow frost-resistant varieties of apple, pear and plum. Word of them spread throughout the region, and the enthusiastic gardener corresponded with Ivan Michurin himself. In 1939 Dmitry Kazantsev received the Small Silver Medal of VDNKh for achievements in horticulture. Today more than 20 varieties of apple and other fruit trees thrive in the orchard: pear, cherry and even fig… A 94-year-old apple tree of the 'Netitovka' variety still bears fruit! An apple from Michurin's breeding — the 'Belfler-Kitayka' variety — has been growing on its own roots since 1933. The first bred apple variety 'Kordik' is already 88 years old (it was planted in 1929). In spring the orchard is pleasant to admire with its white-pink blossoms. In autumn museum staff invite visitors to try the fresh harvest of Kazantsev apples and apple jam with tea from a samovar.