Rechitsa. Museum of Local Lore.

The Rechitsa Museum of Local Lore was founded on May 3, 1952 and was originally located in an annex to the former Holy Dormition Cathedral. The first exhibition opened on November 5, 1954. At that time, the museum's collection consisted of 1,000 exhibits, and the exposition occupied one hall, where the Department of socialist construction was represented. On September 1, 2006, the museum moved to a new building, where updated exhibitions were opened for visitors. Among them are the departments "Ethnography" (with halls "Folk crafts and crafts", "Hut of the Belarusian peasant" and "Weaving"), "Rechitsa at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries", the department of the Soviet period and modern times, "The Great Patriotic War" and "Our countrymen". On August 1, 2007, additional departments were opened: "Nature of the region" and "Ancient history". The expositions cover the history of the Rechitsa region from the sixth millennium BC to the present day.

The museum collects, preserves, exhibits, and promotes historical, material, and spiritual cultural monuments. Today, its collections contain more than 30 thousand authentic museum objects. The collections include archaeological finds, numismatics, phaleristics, paintings, tools of labor and everyday life of the peasants of the Rechitsa region, photographs, documents and memorial complexes of fellow countrymen. In September 2007, to expand the exhibition activities and popularize the museum's art collection, an art gallery was opened in a renovated architectural monument of the late nineteenth century. The total exhibition area of the museum halls is 487 m2. The museum has 10 permanent exhibitions and 1 mobile one. The total number of museum items is 55,228, of which 30,826 belong to the main collection, and 24,402 belong to the scientific and auxiliary.

Museum expositions:

• "Ancient history"

It includes collections of archeology, numismatics, bonistics, household items, photographic documents and printed publications. It covers the period from the Middle Stone Age to the end of the 19th — early 20th centuries. Among the exhibits are objects of the "Milograd" culture, transferred to the museum by the Slavic Expedition of the Institute of Archeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences, which conducted excavations in the Rechitsky district in 1951-1961. There are also unique finds such as a Byzantine coin from the 10th century, a medallion of St. Theodore from the 12th century and a collection of smoking pipes from the 16th and 17th centuries.

• "Ethnography"

It includes collections of tools, clothing, household items, fabrics and textiles. The exhibition is located in three halls: "Folk crafts and crafts", "Hut of the Belarusian peasant" and "Weaving". Agricultural implements, flax processing devices, the interior of a peasant home, clothing and samples of folk weaving are presented here.

• "Rechitsa at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries"

The department exhibits rare photographs kept in the museum's collections. The images reflect the appearance of Rechitsa in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, its historical buildings, educational institutions and famous people of that time.

• "The Soviet period and modern times"

It includes collections of bonistics, vexillology, military equipment, documents, clothing, printed publications, household items, equipment, manuscripts, phaleristics and photographic documents. The exhibition tells about the period of the establishment of Soviet power, the civil war, the development of industry in the pre-war period and post-war reconstruction, as well as about the modern life of the city.

• "The Great Patriotic War"

It includes documents, photographs, manuscripts, printed publications, faleristics, bonistics, sphragistics, military equipment, clothing and household items. The exhibition is dedicated to the tragedy of the war and the heroism of its participants, personal belongings, awards, letters and leaflets are presented.

• "Our fellow countrymen"

The department is dedicated to prominent figures of art, science and culture of the Rechitsa region. The exhibition includes photographic documents, manuscripts, graphics, sculpture, household items, clothing and printed publications.

• "Nature of the region"

The department's dioramas feature stuffed animals found in the forests, fields, and swamps of the region. The exhibition introduces the geography of the Rechitsa district, minerals, as well as species listed in the "Red Book of the Republic of Belarus".

• Art Gallery

Paintings and graphic works by the famous Rechitsa artist Alexander Isachev are on display here. The collection includes 21 exhibits.

The museum continues to actively develop, preserving and popularizing the rich historical and cultural heritage of the Rechitsa region.