Exhibition "The Nature of Karachay-Cherkessia"

About exhibition

Housed in a building erected in 1914 in the historic center of the republic's capital is a local history museum that has become a treasury of the national culture of the peoples of Karachay-Cherkessia. The opening of the first exhibition, which recounts the history of pre-revolutionary and Soviet Karachay-Cherkessia and its natural environment, took place in 1968. The Natural History Department is one of the oldest departments in the museum. Over many years, staff have assembled museum collections reflecting the history, nature, culture, and daily life of the peoples living in the territory of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic (KCR), as well as materials on all-Russian and world history and culture. The museum has opened the exhibition "The Nature of Karachay-Cherkessia," whose character is linked to the diversity of natural conditions within the relatively small territory of the KCR. The exhibition is presented in two display halls: "The Geological Past of Karachay-Cherkessia" and "Flora and Fauna of Karachay-Cherkessia." "The Geological Past of Karachay-Cherkessia" begins with the exhibition section "Earth and the Universe," which reveals to visitors the long and thorny path of human thought that led to modern astronomical knowledge. The mineralogical collection is the pride of the museum. One cannot take one's eyes off the play of light on crystal facets, or the colors and patterns of stones polished by nature itself. The color diversity of mineral species will astonish even an experienced collector.