The best museums in Irkutsk

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Irkutsk is a large Russian city in Siberia founded in 1661. Today, about 620 thousand people live here.

For the country, this city is of major industrial and transport importance. The largest energy company in Russia, an aircraft plant and a heavy engineering plant are located here; Irkutsk is also a transport hub on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

However, there are not only factories, enterprises and railways here. Irkutsk also has a cultural and historical significance: the city center was included in the provisional UNESCO World Heritage List.

You can get acquainted with the rich history and culture of this city and the entire Siberian region as a whole in the museums of Irkutsk. The city has more than two dozen different museums and exhibitions that will be of interest to both permanent residents of Irkutsk and tourists.

Irkutsk Regional Museum of Local Lore

First of all, it is worth mentioning the local history museum in Irkutsk, one of the oldest sights in the city.

December 1782 is considered to be the founding date of this museum. The initiator of the creation of such a cultural institutionbecame Franz Nikolaevich Klichka - lieutenant general and local governor. The construction of this museum of Irkutsk was carried out at the expense of voluntary donations from merchants and noblemen.

In 1879, a major fire broke out in the city, as a result of which most of Irkutsk burned down, including the museum building. About three dozen exhibits and books were lost. After reconstruction, the institution reopened to the public on October 6, 1883.

Today, the museum includes 7 departments (2 exhibition departments, a department of history, nature, a scientific fund, a children's museum center and a library) and 4 buildings located at st. Karl Marx, 2, 11, 13, 21.

There are many noteworthy exhibits here: ancient household items and national costumes of the peoples of the Siberian region, books, photographs from the 19th and 20th centuries (several of them depict the same fire that destroyed the first museum building).

The opening hours of this museum in the city of Irkutsk are from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm. The entrance ticket costs 200 rubles, 50 rubles for the opportunity to take photos of the exhibits.

Irkutsk Regional Art Museum named after V. P. Sukacheva

This is the most popular art museum in Irkutsk, where more than 20 thousand different works of art are collected - paintings, sculptures, icons and other exhibits.

The museum was founded in 1920 as a small art gallery, the first director of which was the painter and organizer of the Irkutsk Society of Artists Konstantin Pomerantsev. Firstexhibits were canvases from the collection of patron Vladimir Platonovich Sukachev.

In 1936, a full-fledged art museum was formed in Irkutsk from an art gallery. It currently includes 5 departments dedicated to Russian, Soviet, European, Oriental and specifically Siberian art.

One of the most valuable exhibits of the Sukachev Museum of Irkutsk is the painting “Beggar Woman. Fisherwoman Girl" by Repin and "Tractor Drivers' Dinner" by Plastov.

The museum owns 4 buildings at the addresses of the street. Lenina, 5; st. Karl Marx, 23; st. December events, 112; st. Sverdlova, 16. Opening hours - from Tuesday to Sunday (in the building on Sverdlova street - from Tuesday to Saturday) from 10 to 18 hours.

There are several categories of entrance tickets here. A complex ticket, which gives the right to visit all the buildings of the museum, costs 120 rubles (for preschoolers), 200 rubles (for schoolchildren, pensioners, military personnel, people with disabilities) or 400 rubles.

A regular ticket to one of the museum buildings costs 50, 70 or 150 rubles, respectively.

Museum of the History of the Irkutsk Aviation Plant

Another history museum in Irkutsk is dedicated to one of the most important enterprises in the city - an aircraft factory built in 1934. Military and civil aviation aircraft are manufactured at this plant.

The museum is located right on the territory of the enterprise and has the status of a protected object, so getting there is not so easy. To visit it, you must first arrange a tour by phone.

Despitesuch complexities, this museum in Irkutsk really deserves attention. The exhibits posted here will be of interest to both aviation lovers and people who are not very passionate about this topic.

In the museum of the history of the Irkutsk Aviation Plant, you can see parts of aircraft made here - engines, control panels and other components. On the square in front of the institution, life-size copies of the aircraft themselves are installed.

Irkutsk Regional Historical and Memorial Museum of the Decembrists

The Decembrist uprising on December 14, 1825, when a group of like-minded noblemen tried to prevent the troops from taking the oath to the new Tsar Nicholas I, is an important event in Russian history. As you know, the attempt to make a palace coup failed, and the perpetrators of the uprising were exiled to Siberia.

The Museum of the Decembrists in Irkutsk is located in the historical center of the city and includes 2 buildings - the Volkonsky House Museum (Volkonsky lane, 10, opened in 1985) and the Trubetskoy House Museum (Dzerzhinsky Street, 64, opened in 1970).

There are many exhibits here related to the stay of the Decembrists in Irkutsk: household items, personal items, musical instruments, coins, books. The collection of beaded embroidery created by the wives of Volkonsky and Trubetskoy is especially popular among visitors.

Besides this, visitors can see other exhibits as part of exhibitions in the museum of Irkutsk dedicated to the Decembrists. Information about current and planned exhibitions can be found on the official websiteinstitutions.

The Volkonsky House-Museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm. The Trubetskoy House Museum can be visited from Wednesday to Monday from 10:00 to 18:00.

Museum at the dump in Irkutsk

When all the historical and art museums of the city have been studied, you can visit one of the most unusual Irkutsk museums. The exhibits are exhibited right in the open air, and the place of exposition is not the historical center of the city, where most of the museums are located, but a dump.

However, thanks to the director of the landfill, Alexander Rastorguev, this place does not look like a dump at all. His goal was to decorate the entrance gate in an unusual way.

Now this is a whole exhibition installation. In the museum at a dump in Irkutsk, you can see sculptures of medieval guards, collected from washing machines and metal debris; a collection of cars from different time periods; a huge wooden sailboat and other interesting exhibits.

The museum is popular not only among the residents of the city. Seeing photos of the Irkutsk Museum on websites and blogs, tourists from other cities and even countries come here.

Irkutsk Planetarium and Noosphere Museum

You can watch the starry sky, see other planets, galaxies and nebulae in the local planetarium, located at st. Sedova, 30.

Next to the planetarium there is also the museum "Noosphere". It will be of interest to those who want to learn more about space. Plasma panels hang on the walls of the museum, on which, in the form of a colorful and brightthe animation shows how the planet Earth has changed over time.

For those who want to see distant stars not only on the screen, an observatory is available in the Noosphere. Also, in cooperation with the Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics SB RAS, weekly excursions to the Baikal Astrophysical Observatory are held.

The cost of a ticket to the planetarium varies from 200 to 500 rubles, depending on the day and time of the session. Tickets to the museum and the observatory cost 200 rubles each.

Fire Guard Museum

The Fire Protection Museum of Irkutsk and the Irkutsk Region is located in the city center in the building of the fire station at ul. Timiryazev, 33.

Here you can learn more about the history of the fire department in the region - how the equipment and equipment of firefighters has changed. The list of exhibits includes special costumes worn by fire fighters; their helmets, belt axes, breathing apparatus, hand ladders, and other mandatory items for a firefighter. Photographs and scale models of fire trucks are also featured.

The depot itself is an important historical site. It was once home to the Third Police Fire Station, then Independent Paramilitary Fire Station No. 2.

As is the case with the Irkutsk Museum of the History of the Aviation Plant, before visiting, you must first arrange a visit to the depot by phone.

Irkutsk Museum of Illusions and Optics "Fantast"

In June 2018 inThe city opened a new museum dedicated to optical illusions. Fantast is located at Marshal Zhukov Ave., 36A/1.

Exhibits presented at the Museum of Illusions in Irkutsk demonstrate how imperfect human perception of reality is. Using various techniques and the right angle, you can make a person see some things not as they really are.

"Fantast" provides visitors with the opportunity not only to see these illusions, but also to become part of them. For example, take a picture against the background of a 3D picture or immerse yourself in a completely different world by wearing a virtual reality helmet.

Museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm. The entrance ticket costs 300 rubles for an adult and 200 rubles for a child. You can take pictures of the exhibits for free.

Museum of entertaining science "Experimentary"

Experimentary is a museum mainly aimed at children, but there are exhibits that adults will also enjoy. The purpose of the museum is to show young visitors in practice how interesting and exciting science can be.

You can not only look at each of the exhibits presented here, but also touch it, which will especially delight children.

In addition to the usual excursions, the Experimentarium Museum also hosts various scientific shows that explain the basics of chemistry and physics, workshops where children can use science to create, for example, their own mini-volcano, a magnet powered by batteries, or slime.

Museum addresses - st. Lermontov, 29 (Academgorodok) and st. July 3, 21A (130 quarter). The cost of participating in a master class or a science show, visiting the planetarium is 250 rubles.

Museum of Urban Life

The Museum of Urban Life is one of the branches of the Museum of the History of the City of Irkutsk named after A. M. Sibiryakov, who began his work on April 17, 2009.

This museum is located at st. December Events, 77. At the end of the 19th century, the building was the estate of the local bourgeois Elizaveta Shipitsyna. In the 20th century, the Polkanov family became its owners.

The purpose of this museum is to allow local residents to learn more about the history of the city in the cultural sphere, the features of the life of Irkutsk residents of the 17th-20th centuries.

7 exhibition zones are available for visitors. For example, one of them tells about the tea culture in the city. Among the exhibits presented are samples of tea packages, samovars, sets, photographs of merchants and shops where one could buy this drink.

Museum of Medicinal Herbs and Minerals

The Museum of Medicinal Herbs and Minerals demonstrates the means and technologies for maintaining he alth with the help of natural ingredients, without the use of medicines.

Here you can find complete collections of medicinal herbs growing in Russia, therapeutic mud, mineral waters, essential oils.

The museum is divided into several areas dedicated to ancient medicine, Tibetan, Chinese and others.

Address - st. Kultukskaya, 45. The entrance ticket costs 150 rubles.

StateMineralogical Museum named after A. V. Sidorova

This museum, located at st. Lermontov, 83, created on the basis of IRNITU.

The collection of minerals, rocks and minerals collected here (about 35 thousand items in total) is unique. The most valuable exhibits are a jade boulder weighing 1.5 tons, a vase of charoite, “A hill of Ural gems.”

The museum offers thematic tours - "Artificially grown crystals", "Stones-talismans", "Minerals and ecology" and others.

Dias Picture Gallery

Art gallery opened in the city in 2009 on the street. Sedova, 40, although the formation of the collection of paintings began much earlier. Currently, the art fund of the gallery has about 2 thousand paintings.

Dias holds exhibitions not only in Irkutsk, but also in other cities of Russia and even abroad; organizes plein airs, master classes, seminars; provides an opportunity to buy some paintings or rent them.