Gemstone Belt of the Urals Museum

About museum

The Gemstone Belt of the Urals has been known for more than 300 years. It is here that the most unique and historically significant gem deposits are located. Just to mention a few names — Koltashi, the Polozhikha River, the Semeninskaya mine, the Lipovskie mines, Prince Meshchersky's mine, Topaznitsa, the Mora mines — is enough to bring to mind, for connoisseurs of Ural gems, shining pink and polychrome tourmalines, the sea‑colored aquamarine, the patterned 'shaitan' iridescent stone; illustrious names of industrialists, prospectors and scientists emerge from the past — Ya. Mora, D.K. Zvereva, V.L. Zobnina, T.P. Semenina, A.E. Fersman, K.K. Matveeva, P.L. Dravert, G.N. Vertushkov. Today the museum's collections number over 3,000 items. Two exhibition halls are available to visitors. The displays feature mineral specimens not only from our region but also from all the former Soviet republics. Visitors include locals, people from other cities, and foreign guests. The museum hosts drawing contests, literary quizzes and lectures about the world of Ural gemstones. The museum is located in a historic building — the 'manor house' of factory manager Savva Yakovlev — which is a 19th‑century architectural monument.