Shilovsky District Local History Museum

About museum

Shilovsky District Local History Museum was founded in 1974 by the local historian Andrey Nikolaevich Gavrilov in the Palace of Pioneers. Teachers, pupils, and local residents took part in creating the museum and assembling its collections. It actively cooperates with the Academy of Sciences, research institutes, museums across Russia, and local-history enthusiasts. Scientific-educational and instructional publications are issued. For schoolchildren the museum holds guided tours, lectures, and local-history lessons. The museum's exhibition depicts the history of the region from the 18th to the 20th century — periods of wars, trades and crafts, industry and commerce, and notable fellow countrymen. The paleontological exhibition features fossilized shells of ammonites and belemnites, corals, skulls of prehistoric animals and even a cave bear's paw. The pride of the museum is its archaeological collection, which is one of the largest in the oblast. The exhibition includes work tools, jewelry, elements of military culture, and household items.