Exhibition "Regalia and Relics of the Kuban Cossack Host"

About exhibition

The exhibition presents the history of the Black Sea and Kuban Cossacks and their military feats in campaigns from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries. It displays relics priceless to the Cossacks: gifts from emperors and empresses, symbols of atamans' authority, military awards and banners, weapons and clothing, as well as documents brought from the USA and donated to the museum by descendants of Cossack émigrés. Among the unique regalia is the Charter of Catherine II, brought from St. Petersburg by A. Golovaty; it was kept in Yekaterinodar, first in the Cossack military headquarters and later in the military Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. On holidays and during ceremonies it was carried in parades and prayer services on Yekaterinodar Square. The charter was returned to the Kuban in April 2007 and immediately sent to the Moscow Research Institute for Restoration; restoration was completed in December 2007. Also unique are original orders signed by Prince G.A. Potemkin, dating to the early period of the formation of the Kuban Cossack Host (1788–1790). The collection contains more than 90 unique banners significant to the history of the Russian state, including St. George banners awarded by Emperor Alexander II to the 8th Plastun Battalion of the Kuban Cossack Host for the heroic defense of Sevastopol. Notable items include gifts from Russian emperors Catherine II, Alexander I and Nicholas I: silver-gilt dishes by renowned Russian jewelers Khlebnikov, Ovchinnikov and K. Fabergé.