Novgorod Museum-Reserve

The first Novgorod Museum was founded in 1865 and was originally called the Novgorod Museum of Antiquities at the Provincial Statistical Committee. Its discovery is associated with the celebration in this period of the 1000th anniversary of the Russian state . The initiator of the museum was N. G. Bogoslovsky ^[2] .

A brief chronology of the main dates in the life of the museum :

• 1913 - Novgorod diocesan ancient storage is created.
• From 1921 to 1928, in Novgorod, in addition to the already existing one, several new museums were opened:
  • 1921 - Museum of the Revolution, Museum of Public Education, private Museum named after L. N. Tolstoy (creator and owner V. A. Molochnikov);
  • 1924 - Museum of New Russian Art (Novgorod Art Gallery);
  • 1928 - Anti-Religious Museum.
• 1929 - the network of Novgorod museums unites under the leadership of the Board - a single governing body.

Museum of Fine Arts building of the Noble Assembly in Veliky Novgorod

In the post-revolutionary period, Novgorod museum funds were replenished mainly due to the nationalization of church and manor property (the Maryino, Gruzino , and Vybity museums were disbanded) as well as from the liquidated private museums of V. V. Peredolsky ^[3] (Museum of Antiquities ) and V.A. Molochnikov. Since the early 1930s, replenishment began to come from the activities of archaeological expeditions.

• From 1917 to 1940, all the architectural, historical and artistic monuments of Novgorod were transferred to the Novgorod Museum.
• From 1933 to 1934 the museum’s work was seriously disrupted by the prosecutions unfolding across the country. Charges were also brought against N. G. Porfiridov (director of the Novgorod Museum from 1918 to 1932) ^[4] , museum employees S. M. Smirnov ^[5] , V. V. Shevyakov, and V. V. Peredolsky and V.A. Molochnikova. In addition, many other employees were suspended.
• 1936 - Research and restoration work began to be actively carried out on the territory of Novgorod and the Novgorod Region. By 1940, the museum had about 140,000 items in storage. In 1941, from the start of World War II until August 19, 1941, when German troops occupied Novgorod, the museum carried out intensive work to collect and evacuate the most valuable exhibits. Thanks to the dedicated work of N. G. Porfiridov, V. A. Bogussevich , B. K. Manteifel and other people ^[6], after 2 months of hasty work, many valuable exhibits were taken to Sovetsk, Kirillov and Kirov. However, losses could not be avoided. Many ancient monuments were destroyed during the fighting or taken to Germany .
• 1944 - some time after the liberation of Novgorod ( January 20, 1944 ), vigorous activity begins to return the evacuated values ​​and the restoration of the Novgorod Museum of Local Lore.
• 1959 - The Novgorod Museum was reorganized into the Novgorod Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve of republican significance, as a result of which the architectural ensemble of the Novgorod Detinets , Yaroslavov Dvorishcha and 11 other architectural monuments were attributed to its management.
• 1962 - the first non-Novgorod branch of the museum appears in the village of Syabrenitsy in the Chudovsky district - the House-Museum of the writer G. I. Uspensky .
• 1966 - the museum unites the local history museums of Staraya Russa and Valday .
• 1967 - The Museum of Folk Wooden Architecture “ Vitoslavlitsy ” was founded.
• 1975 - the exposition "The History of Novgorod and the Novgorod Region" opens in the building of the Public Places, which includes historical and archaeological finds and exhibits from ancient times to the 17th century.
• On January 26, 1976, by the decision of the Novgorod Oblast Executive Committee , the Novgorod State United Museum-Reserve (NGOMZ) was formed, which included all the above expositions and branches. He became a single organizational, economic and scientific institution.
• 1980 - the exposition “Old Russian Iconography” and “Russian Painting of the 18th — 20th Centuries” opens in the building of the Public Places.
• 1981 - the exhibition "Decorative, Applied and Jewelry Art of Ancient Russia" opens in the building of the Vladychnaya (Faceted) Chamber .
• 1981 - a memorial exposition opens in the house-museum of F. M. Dostoevsky in Staraya Russa.
• 1989 - the exhibition “History of the Borovichi Territory” was opened in the Borovichi branch.
• 1992 - The XVI Session of the General Assembly of UNESCO decided to include the architectural monuments of the Novgorod Museum-Reserve on the World Cultural Heritage List .
• 1995 - The Museum of Bells was opened in the Valdai branch.
• 1998 - By the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of January 15, NGOMZ was included in the Code of Especially Valuable Objects of Cultural Heritage of the Peoples of Russia.
• 1998 - The Museum of the county town was opened in the Valdai branch.
• 2015 - Museum bell center opened in Valdai branch

Today, the Novgorod United Museum-Reserve is one of the oldest in Russia. It includes a complex of architectural monuments of the 11th – 17th centuries. Fixed assets of movable exhibits number more than 400,000, scientific and auxiliary - more than 300,000 storage units. The Museum-Reserve has 17 departments engaged in scientific, restoration, educational, sightseeing and other activities.

The museum has 10 unique collections:

• Archaeological site. Includes materials of archaeological research , actively conducted since 1932. This collection is the largest collection of medieval archaeological objects in the world, and has a reference character.
• Architectural and archaeological. Includes research materials of architectural monuments of the XI-XVII centuries. Veliky Novgorod and other cities of Russia of the same period. Complexes destroyed during the Second World War and recreated (or partially recreated) frescoes XII-XV centuries.
• Old Russian icon painting of the 11th – 17th centuries The collection contains the most ancient icons of both the Novgorod school of icon painting and icons from other cities of Russia.
• Ancient jewelry art of the 10th-17th centuries It consists of the oldest examples of Byzantine and Russian decorative and applied art in Russia.
• Old Russian front and ornamental sewing of the XI — XVII centuries.
• Manuscript and early printed book of the XII — XVIII centuries.
• Russian coins of the 10th-17th centuries (pre-Petrine period).
• Documentary written sources of the XII-XVII centuries., Among which are the oldest authentic act materials of Russian history.
• Russian bells of the 16th – 17th centuries
• Old Russian Act Seals of the 11th — 15th Centuries

The Novgorod United Museum-Reserve, in addition to the central expositions and exhibits in Veliky Novgorod, has regional branches ^[7] :

• Starorussky branch , including the House-Museum of F.M. Dostoevsky and the Museum of the North-Western Front .
• Valdai Branch ^[8] , with the Museum of Bells and the Museum of the County Town
• Borovichi branch, with the Museum-Estate of A.V. Suvorov in the village of Konchanskoye .
• The Chudovsky branch, including the N. A. Nekrasov House Museum and G. I. Uspensky House Museum in the village of Uspenskoye.

Velikiy Novgorod

• Museum
• Museum virtual tour
• Museum History
• NGOMZ branches (inaccessible link)