Minsk Regional Museum of Local History

The Minsk Regional Museum of Local History was founded in 1959 in Molodechno as the Molodechno Regional Museum of Local History. After the liquidation of the Molodechno Region in 1960, it was renamed the Minsk Regional Museum of Local History. In 2001, the museum received the status of a state institution.

Initially, the museum was located in a small wooden building on Libavo-Romenskaya Street. The museum staff, headed by the first director Galina Pavlova, laid the foundation for future collections.

The first museum exhibition opened in 1964 and included only 2 thousand exhibits. In subsequent years, the museum exhibition was repeatedly updated, reflecting changes in the historical concept. In the early 1990s, the museum moved to creating long-term exhibitions, using different methods of presenting information.

In 2006, the museum received a new building in Molodechno. In 2011, the first stage of a permanent exhibition was opened in this building, telling about the most important events in the history of the Minsk region.

An exhibition dedicated to the victims of the genocide of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War opened in June 2022. The Minsk Regional Museum of Local History holds a rich collection telling about the history and culture of the Minsk region.

Permanent exhibition:

• Religious denominations: Exhibits are presented reflecting the history of Christianity (Orthodoxy and Catholicism), Islam (Tatar culture) and Judaism (the history of the Jewish community, the famous Volozhin Yeshiva) in the Minsk region.
• Urban and rural life: The life of Minsk region residents at the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th century is demonstrated, from clothing and household utensils to folk crafts.

Temporary exhibition:

• Genocide of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War: The policy of genocide of the German fascist invaders against the Belarusian people is shown. The exhibition uses museum items and photo documents. Of particular interest are items found by searchers during excavations of mass extermination sites. The exhibition is intended to preserve the memory of the victims of genocide and warn against the repetition of tragedies.

In March 2020, the museum opened an updated exhibition dedicated to the nature of the Minsk region. It is a landscape complex that includes "Lake", "Forest", "Swamp", "Meadow", united by an environmental idea. Of particular interest are the thematic showcases "Birds in the City" and "Underwater Inhabitants of Lakes", where you can see representatives of numerous species of fauna of Belarus, including rare species listed in the Red Book.

The permanent exhibition "History of the Minsk region from ancient times to the beginning of the 20th century" opened in 2011 and presents about two thousand exhibits telling about the rich history of the region.

The exhibition begins with the section "Primitive Communal System in the Territory of Minsk Region and the Transition to Feudal Relations", which is the basis for understanding the history of the region. The next section is dedicated to the oldest cities of the Minsk Region that arose on the lands of the Polotsk Principality: Zaslavl, Minsk, Borisov, Logoisk. Here you can see a unique exhibit - a gold temple ring of the Dregovichi of the 12th-13th centuries from the excavations of Staro-Borisov.

The exhibition continues with sections devoted to the Minsk region as part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Russian Empire. It presents a variety of artifacts reflecting the cultural and economic development of the region in different historical periods.

In the final section, "Culture of the Minsk Region in the Late 19th - Early 20th Centuries," you can see a typical living room of a noble estate, decorated with copies of works by famous artists who were born in the Minsk Region, as well as musical instruments and literary works by Belarusian writers.

The museum has an atmosphere of constant movement: exhibitions, lectures, exciting quests, interactive quest tours, museum classes - all this is aimed at broadening horizons and immersion in the history of the region. The basis of scientific and educational work is excursions, which are held not only in the permanent exhibition, but also within the framework of thematic exhibitions.

In addition to displaying historical treasures, the museum is actively involved in studying the history of its region, conducting scientific research and regularly preparing lectures that are given at educational institutions in the city.

The museum is not afraid to keep up with the times, actively using modern technologies and social networks to promote its projects. The Museum Calendar projects, where each holiday is presented through a unique museum item, and the Fund Environment, which popularizes museum funds, attract the attention of a wide audience.

Particular attention is paid to working with young people. The museum is introducing interactive forms of work: quests, where you can learn about the exhibition by solving logical problems, quest excursions, combining an educational excursion with exciting tasks, and a guidebook "Museum Walk", allowing you to independently study the history of your native land.

Fostering patriotic feelings and spiritual and moral values is one of the key areas of the museum's work. An example is a joint project with the Minsk Regional Drama Theatre - a theatrical poetic excursion "Never Again...". The combination of the museum's information blocks and the theatre's theatrical and literary compositions, as well as off-site events in regional cities, make the project unique and memorable.

The museum actively participates in the life of the museum community, participating in the National Forum "Museums of Belarus". At the forum, the museum shares its experience, presents its works and attracts attention to its region. For its active work, the museum was awarded a Special Diploma of the jury and a Certificate of the Ministry of Culture.

The Minsk Regional Museum of Local History is a living organism, constantly developing, offering visitors not just excursions, but immersion in history, culture and science.