Uryupinsk Art and Local History Museum

About museum

The museum is located in a two-story mansion built in the late 19th century by the merchant Ivan Smelov. Founded in 1968, the museum tells the history of Uryupinsk from its founding to the present day. It recounts the remarkable nature and wildlife of the area around the Khoper River, and the region's inhabitants — the Cossacks.
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\r\nThe exhibits include life-size models of a Cossack hut and homestead, and a kurgan (burial mound) model displaying six types of burials. The memorial exhibition contains materials about well-known natives of Uryupinsk. Among them are the world-famous painter I. Mashkov, E. Dzhugashvili, Army General M. Shtemenko, the trainer of the first cosmonauts N. Nikitin, and others.
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\r\nSince 2001 the museum has had an art gallery exhibiting works by both local artists and masters from the capital. There is the 'Folk Arts and Crafts of Russia' hall, showcasing types of decorative and applied arts from across Russia. On Saturdays the gallery invites everyone to the art and decorative-applied arts studio 'Air Castles'.
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\r\nIn 2003 an ethnography department, the 'Goat Museum', was opened, where visitors learn about goat breeding and the local craft of knitting down products from goat hair. Here one can learn the basics of the craft, from combing the down to spinning.