Museum of Architecture and Life of the Peoples of the Nizhny Novgorod Region: description, photos and reviews

The Museum of Architecture and Life of the Peoples of the Nizhny Novgorod Volga Region is located on the territory of the ethnographic zone of the Schelokovsky Park. The museum has 15 exhibits of wooden architecture dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries.

History

The Museum of Architecture and Life of the Peoples of the Nizhny Novgorod Volga Region appeared according to the decision of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. The first project was developed in 1959, but funding for implementation was not received. The museum began to take real shape in the 1960s. The authorities of the city of Gorky allocated about 38 hectares for the construction and exposition on the territory of the regional nature monument Shchelokovsky farm, it happened in 1969.

Museum of Architecture and Life of the peoples of the Nizhny Novgorod Volga region was planned to be opened in stages, as the exhibits and the development of the square were received. The first excursions took place in 1973. The main architect, author and inspirer of the exposition was Yu. G. Samoilov.

Opening of the complex

It was planned that the whole territory of the complex will consist of five zones:

• North-western Volga region.
• South-western part of the region.
• Northern Volga region.
• The middle part of the territory.
• The southern outskirts.

In early summer of 1973 the museum received its first visitors. The initial exposition consisted of six buildings assembled in the Volga region. According to the plan, there should have been five territories with characteristic houses of wooden architecture, but the whole project of Samoilov was not realized. During the following years, the exposition was supplemented by nine wooden structures, which completed the filling of only one part of the whole grandiose project. One of the first historical sites was the cottage Pavlova (the village of Rakovo), the house was restored and assembled at the permanent exhibition site.

How to find the Museum of Architecture and Life of the Peoples of the Nizhny Novgorod Volga Region? Address of the cultural object: Nizhny Novgorod city, Gorbatovskaya street, building No. 41.

Current state

The Museum of Architecture and Life of the Peoples of the Nizhny Novgorod Volga Region became the basis for the creation of a new institution - the Architectural and Ethnographic Museum-Reserve Shchelokovsky Farm. The union took place in 2014. Now in the museum are stored 15 wooden buildings, dating from 17-19 centuries. The regions from which samples of wooden architecture were transported were Gorodetsky, Kstovsky, Semenovsky, and others.

All buildings are assembled in one place and represent a village street, after which the traveler goes to the 19th century, studies the life and life of the Volga peasants. According to media reports, the Museum of Architecture and Life of the Peoples of the Urban Volga Region is in a deplorable state.

In the last ten years, restoration work has not been carried out here, new exhibits are not being imported, and those that exist are gradually decrepit. Some of the exhibits are irretrievably lost. The authorities do not finance the work, which threatens to completely destroy the Russian original heritage. The museum director repeatedly appealed to the relevant structures, but no results. Formally, the work is under way, but it takes place in the offices, and rarities are lost without proper care.

Exposition

For a modern man, a trip to the Shchelokovo farm will be a fascinating excursion into its own history, it is represented by the Museum of Architecture and Life of the Peoples of the Nizhny Novgorod Volga Region. Photo exhibits demonstrate the beauty and comfort of wooden buildings. The thread of windows, skates has long been the subject of close study of ethnographers, historians, artists. You can see all 15 buildings by yourself, having come here on an excursion.

The most significant and large buildings are:

• The Church of the Intercession (built in 1672), it was brought from the Gorodets district.
• Ovin in two floors (late 19th century), moved from the village of Shishki.
• Barns, divided into bays.
• Grandiose watermill (19th century).
• Mill-pillar (19th century).
• Forty-meter well log house with a stepping wheel (19 century), from which water was collected, moving inside the wheel.

Almost all the buildings of the museum are cut down with an ax and assembled without the help of nails. Inside the once inhabited huts are collected objects of peasant life, working tools, many of them are decorated with carvings and unpretentious paintings.

Excursions

On the territory of the complex there are excursions, interactive programs for children and adults, ecological festivals, folk ethnographic festivals. Experienced guides will lead tourists from time to time, familiarize themselves with the living conditions of the peasants, and tell in detail about each building and its features. Most of the information is given in a sightseeing tour.

Ethnographic features of each region of the Volga region are considered in several thematic excursions, also every national holiday (Shrovetide, farewell to winter, etc.) is marked by a festival with folk festivals. For inquiring minds, a reconstruction club was created. On the territory of the complex, several feature films were shot, along these routes a route was also laid.

Reviews

Many lovers of antiquity were attracted by the Museum of Architecture and Life of the Peoples of the Nizhny Novgorod Volga Region. Reviews with positive assessments are full of enthusiastic stories about the beauty of the restored carving, about the whole atmosphere of the complex, where a complete immersion takes place on Wednesday. Many words of gratitude were told to guides and employees who, at the cost of great efforts, keep the wooden structures in their normal state.

Reviews with negative stories describe the sad state of buildings, the crashiness of many houses, where most recently it was possible to go. Many people are of the opinion that the transportation of buildings from the places of their construction adversely affects the condition of houses. Part of the public believes that such museums rather destroy the authenticity of exhibits, depriving them of their lives in their midst. But if you remember how many villages have emptied in recent years, and with them the unique historical buildings have gone into oblivion, the creation of such museums becomes the salvation of at least part of the departing material culture.