Vitebsk Regional Museum of Local History.

The beginning of the creation of the modern museum should be considered the appeal of the provincial department of education to create a historical public museum, which was placed in the local newspaper. The collector Anton Brodovsky responded to this appeal, who offered his own collection for the creation of the museum. The provincial department of public education gave consent and appointed Brodovsky as the head of the newly created museum. The items of the collector's collection were transported to the building of the former Theological Seminary (now Politekhnicheskaya Street, 2). A. Brodovsky's collection numbered more than 10 thousand storage units and was divided by the owner into 40 collections, among which the following stood out: archeology, natural science, numismatics, phaleristics, seals, watches, icons, crosses, religious medals, fabrics, embroidery, mosaics, inlays, jewelry, painting, French and Russian enamels, artistic images from porcelain, artistic bronze products, manuscripts, Jewish collection.

The museum premises were renovated by the end of March 1919 and in May of the same year the museum was opened to the public. Later, the museum funds were actively replenished from private collections, residences of wealthy gentry, archives and personal belongings of famous people, various societies. In 1924, the Vitebsk Provincial Museum received the status of a branch of the Belarusian State Museum in Vitebsk and moved to the city hall building transferred to it.

In 1976, the restoration of the Vitebsk Town Hall began, which limited public access to the permanent exhibition. At that time, active work was underway to complete the collection, create exhibitions, and establish museum branches. Today, the Vitebsk Regional Museum of Local History consists of the Town Hall (the main museum) and branches: the Art Museum , the Museum of the History of Private Collecting, the I.E. Repin Estate Museum "Zdravnevo" and an independent exhibition "In Memory of the Patriots of the Vitebsk Region".

Currently, the Vitebsk Regional Museum of Local History has one of the richest collections in the republic, which numbers more than 210 thousand items in the main fund. Of the 33 existing museum collections, the most numerous are the collections of printed publications, archeology, printed and handwritten documents, philately and philocarty, photo documents. The museum is proud of its rich, interesting collections of Masonic paraphernalia, weapons, medal art, numismatics.