Azov Historical, Archaeological and Paleontological Museum-Reserve

Rostov Oblast
Rostov region, Azov, Moskovskaya str. 38/40
Phones: +7 (86342) 4-03-71
Web site: http://www.azovmuseum.ru/

The Azov Museum-reserve is a Museum complex located in the historical center of ancient Azov. In addition to the 23 halls of the main exhibition, it includes the only preserved monument of military engineering art of the XVIII century in the South of Russia. Gunpowder cellar, fortification earthworks of the XVIII century-the ramparts of the Azov fortress, the memorial Museum of R. L. Samoilovich-is currently the only Museum in Russia dedicated to the polar Explorer of the Arctic-Antarctic, as well as the exhibition hall "Maecenas".
The Museum was established on may 17, 1917 thanks to the activities of the Azov society "National education".
Today, the Azov historical, archaeological and paleontological Museum-reserve is located in the former building of the city Council, built in 1892, which is a monument of regional significance and a business card of the city.
The Museum's collection includes more than 400 thousand exhibits, the earliest of which is about 250 million years old.
The Azov Museum-reserve is famous in Russia and abroad as a center of archaeological research. It is the Keeper of the archaeological heritage of numerous ancient tribes and peoples who inhabited the North-Eastern Azov region in different periods. The pride of the Museum collection is the exposition "Treasures of the nomads of Eurasia", which presents more than 20 thousand rare exhibits from the III Millennium BC to the XIV century ad. samples of ancient jewelry art are of Great interest. World-class treasures are found from the Sarmatian treasure, Dating back to the first century ad.
The Azov Museum-reserve also has a rich paleontological collection, the largest in the North Caucasus (more than 1,500 items). One of the unique exhibits of this collection is the skeleton of a mammoth trogontherii (700-800 million years). It was discovered in 1964 in the Kagalnitsky sand pit. Excavations were carried out in difficult winter conditions by the expedition of the Azov Museum under the leadership of V. S. Baigusheva and L. M. Kazakova. The restoration took place from 1965 to 1982 at the Leningrad Zoological Institute with the participation of a major paleontologist V. E. Garutt. The height of the mounted skeleton is 4.25 m. in live form, the animal reached 4.5-4.75 m. and fun 10-12 t.

The first exposition of the Azov Museum was opened on May 17, 1917 thanks to the activities of the Azov Society "People's Education". At that time, the local newspaper "To the Deed" reported an influx of donations - old coins, specimens of minerals, cannonballs, engravings, collections of postage stamps, etc. During the Civil War, the museum was destroyed. It got its second birth in 1937, but during the Nazi occupation of Azov it was destroyed, the collections were irretrievably lost. The museum was opened for the third time in May 1960, and the city's community initiated the restoration. The staff of the Azov Museum has been conducting systematic archaeological excavations for 50 years, studying the historical and cultural heritage of the region.

The Azov Museum-Reserve is one of the largest museums in the south of Russia. It contains more than 400 thousand exhibits, the earliest of which are about 250 million years old. Paleontology, archeology, history, nature, art - the history of mankind in a single city.

The Azov Museum-Reserve has a rich paleontological collection. Few museums in the world can be proud of such exhibits as in Azov - skeletons of dinotherium (inhabited on the territory of the Azov region 8 million years ago), two trogontery mammoths (geological age of which is 700-800 thousand years), Caucasian elasmotherium (1.3-1.4 million . years).