Verkhny Tagil Historical and Local Lore Museum

About museum

Verkhny Tagil Historical and Local Lore Museum was opened on March 3, 1981. It was originally located in a small building at 5 Lenin Street. Due to the rapid growth of the museum's collections, a more spacious location became necessary. The choice fell on an old stone building at 30 Lenin Street. The building was constructed in 1896 to a design by Gavriil Aleksandrovich Markov, manager of the Verkhny Tagil cast-iron and ironworks. It was initially built as the volost (rural district) administration. A fire tower was located on the roof; on the second floor were the volost constable, the volost elder, a scribe, a tax collector and the village head. The first floor housed the fire brigade, the “chizhovka” — a cell for detainees, and the “katavernaya” — a morgue. Later the building housed Soviet authorities. It was then transferred to a commercial organization and shops were opened there. In 1988 the museum moved into this building. The museum's collections comprise more than 11,000 items. The exhibitions present the history of the founding of Verkhny Tagil, beginning with the construction of the cast-iron and ironworks; the life of the settlement during the Civil War and the Great Patriotic War; the flora and fauna of the Ural forests and water bodies; and mineralogical and paleontological collections.