Verkhoturye State Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve

About museum

The museum-reserve was established in 2000 by a decree of the Government of the Sverdlovsk Region. It is the successor to the Verkhoturye Local History Museum, opened in 1921, disbanded in the mid-1930s and re-established in 1977. The museum-reserve's collections include the local history museum's collections and a number of cultural heritage sites of federal and regional significance. The museum is located in the historic centre of the town of Verkhoturye and includes the Verkhoturye kremlin on Trinity Stone above the Tura River and the Reception House for honoured guests on the left bank of the Kalachik River — a tributary of the Tura. The uniqueness of the Verkhoturye museum-reserve is that it is the only museum in the Sverdlovsk Region situated within the territory of an 18th-century stone kremlin, which is the town's cultural, historical, religious and social centre. The Verkhoturye kremlin ensemble includes cultural heritage sites dating from the late 17th to the early 20th century, such as the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Gosudarevy Ambary (Tsar's Granaries), the Voivode's House, the Prikaznye Chambers (Administrative Chambers), and the District Treasury. There are also archaeological monuments and a number of reconstructed buildings — the Cookhouse and Guardhouse, Storage Chambers, the Powder Magazine, and fortress towers. The total area of the museum-reserve is 3.4 hectares. It receives over 50,000 visitors annually.