National Museum of the Republic of Karelia

Republic of Karelia
Lenin Square, 1, Petrozavodsk, Republic of Karelia
Phones: +7 (8142) 76-94-79
Web site: http://nmrk.karelia.ru/

In the 24 halls of the permanent exhibition, visitors to the museum can get acquainted with the history and culture of the region. The section "Natural features of Karelia" will tell you about the variety of rocks and minerals of the ancient Karelian land, about what traces the last ice age left in the landscape 10 thousand years ago. "The Stone Chronicle. Archeology of Karelia " will introduce you to drawings on granite slabs-petroglyphs carved 8 thousand years ago by ancient hunters and fishermen, with archaeological finds of Neolithic sites and monuments of the Stone Age-mazes, seidas, megaliths. Historical sections will tell about the history of the region from the IX to the XX centuries. "Northern Borderlands" will help you "dive" into the millennial era of the northern Middle Ages. "Petrovsky Plants" and "City-plant" will tell about the industrial history of the region and Petrozavodsk. "By the highest decree" will explain how the Olonets province was created. "Provincial Capital" will introduce you to the provincial Petrozavodsk of the early twentieth century and its inhabitants.

The exhibition complex, which includes the exhibition "Nature of Karelia" and the interactive platform "Bear Corner", is located in the House of the head of the Olonets Mountain District (F. str.Engels, D. 5), built at the end of the XVIII century. The building is a historical monument and one of the rare examples of the northern city estate.

More than two hundred species of animals are placed in dioramas and showcases of the exhibition "Nature of Karelia". Modern museum facilities – "smart light", games, multimedia programs allow visitors to gain a sensory experience of communicating with nature, develop memory, imagination, and expand their knowledge of the plant and animal world of Karelia.

The museum's exposition in the Park complex of the Round Square (Lenin Square) is directly adjacent to the territory of the Governor's Garden and the park of the mountain chief, a landscape monument and a place of recreation for citizens. At the entrance to the park there is an exhibition area of the museum with items related to the history of mining in Karelia (a peasant domnitsa for iron smelting, gun barrels produced by the Alexander Plant, etc.).

The National Museum of the Republic of Karelia was founded in 1871 and is one of the oldest museum institutions in the North-West of Russia.

The museum collection, which includes more than 225 thousand items, presents nature, archeology, the history of the region and the city of Petrozavodsk, the traditional culture of Russians, Karelians, and Veps.

The central building of the museum was built at the end of the XVIII century. Since the beginning of the XIX century, it was the residence of the governor of the Olonets province. Residents of the city called it more simply-the Governor's House. The building was part of the architectural ensemble of the main square of the city, where the provincial offices were also located. In 1871, the Olonets Natural-Industrial and Historical-Ethnographic Museum was founded in the Governor's House on the initiative of the Governor G. G. Grigoriev. Today, this building houses the permanent exhibition of the National Museum of the Republic of Karelia.


Historical building on F street.Engels, D. 5 was built at the end of the XVIII century for the head of the Olonets mountain district, in whose jurisdiction were all the cannon-foundries of the Olonets province. Now this building has an exhibition complex, on the first floor of which there is an interactive platform "Bear Corner", and on the second-the exhibition "Nature of Karelia", representing the diverse natural world of Karelia. More than two hundred species of animals are displayed in the showcases and dioramas "Animals of the Forest" and "Inhabitants of the White Sea". Here you can hear the sounds of the forest, the voices of birds and animals, learn to recognize animals by their tracks. Modern museum facilities – various game complexes and multimedia programs allow visitors to gain a sensory experience of communicating with nature, develop memory, imagination, and expand their knowledge of the plant and animal world of Karelia.

At the entrance to the Governor's Garden there is an exhibition area with items related to the history of mining in Karelia.

The new interactive platform "Bear Corner" will be interesting for everyone: both children and adults.
In two rooms there are models of the dwellings of the forest inhabitants of Karelia. On the playground, you can and should:
-sit in the "golden eagle's nest", hear his voice, compare the span of your hands with the wingspan of this bird;
- go under the "beaver dam", look out of his "hut" and compare your weight with the weight of an adult beaver and a newborn baby beaver;
- to look out of the "hollow owl", to hear its voice, to compare the span of your hands with its wings;
- crawl along the "path of the earthworm", hear the sounds it makes underground and find out how much it weighs;
- snuggle in the" bear's den", hear its breath, compare your height and weight with the height and weight of an adult bear.

Two branches of the museum located not far from Petrozavodsk – the museum of the history of the First Russian resort "Marcial Waters" and the Sheltozersky Veps Ethnographic Museum – are among the top ten attractions of Karelia, the most famous and visited by tourists. In 2020, a new branch opened - the Museum of the Karelian Front in Belomorsk