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User:KatiaKhimei/Kherson Museum of Local Lore

The Kherson Museum of Local Lore
Established1890
LocationKherson, Ukraine
Websitehokm.ks.ua

The Kherson Museum of Local Lore (Ukrainian: Херсо́нський краєзна́вчий музе́й) is a regional museum of local lore that has the largest collection of materials and objects on the history and culture of Kherson Oblast; it is one of the significant museum collections in the Southern Ukraine.

History of the institution

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It was established in 1963 on the basis of the Archaeological Museum, founded in 1890 by V. Hoshkevych from his own findings during excavations in the Khersonshchyna, supplemented by findings of R. Skadovskyi (from Berezan Island), I. Stempkovskyi (from Podniprovia), and others. In 1963, the collection was combined with the Kherson Museum of Natural History, created by Y. Pachosky (1897).

The research of the historian of archaeological science A. Kostenko defines the stages of the museum's development:

  • Archaeological Museum of the Kherson Provincial Statistical Committee: 1890-1898.
  • Archaeological Museum of the Kherson Provincial Scientific Archival Commission: 1898-1909.
  • Kherson City Museum of Antiquities and Fine Arts: 1909-1923.
  • Kherson State Historical and Archaeological Museum, subordinated to the Main Department of Science of the People's Commissariat of Education of the Ukrainian SSR: 1923-1931.
  • The Kherson Museum of Local Lore was subordinated to the Main Department of Science (Uprnauka) of the People's Commissariat of Education of the Ukrainian SSR: 1931-1941.
  • Kherson Historical Museum subordinated to the Regional Institute of Ancient and Prehistoric History of the Reich Commissariat Ukraine: 1941-1944.
  • Kherson Regional Historical Museum (in 1944-1950 it was officially called the Kherson Regional Historical and Archaeological Museum), subordinated to the Department of Culture of the Executive Committee of the Kherson Regional Council: 1944-1963.
  • Kherson Museum of Local Lore subordinated to the Department of Culture of the Executive Committee of the Kherson Regional Council: since 1963.

Looting of the museum

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After the looting (2022)

In 2022, the museum was looted by Russian troops before a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the city began. The exhibits were looted and removed by Russians to Chersonese Historical and Archaeological Museum-Reserve in Sevastopol.

Exposition and activities

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The Kherson Museum of Local Lore is a regional museum with the largest collection of materials and objects on the history and culture of Kherson region; it is one of the most famous museum collections in the South of Ukraine.The Museum has more than 173,000 exhibits (10,000 are in the permanent exhibition).

The museum has 6 departments; 1 sector; 1 branch:

  • Department of scientific and collection work (with the archaeology sector);
  • Natural History Department 1 (main building, 9 Soborna St.);
  • Natural History Department 2 (5 Gorky St.) - Kherson Natural History and Ecology Museum;
  • Scientific and exposition department of the history of the region;
  • Scientific and Literary Department (1 Gorky St.);
  • Scientific and Educational Department.

The branch in Kakhovka is the Kakhovka Historical Museum.

The museum published the "Chronicle of the Museum" (9 parts, 1909-1929).

Funds

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The museum's expositions are housed in buildings that are monuments of architecture and history of the nineteenth century. The Kakhovka branch is located in a modern building. The total area of 4 museum buildings is 5622 square meters.

The museum's collections include more than 173 thousand museum objects, including one of the best archaeological collections in Ukraine, with the oldest finds dating back more than 7 thousand years; an interesting collection of coins from ancient cities of the Northern Black Sea region; a large complex of samples of cold steel and firearms of the XVI-XIX centuries; a collection of hunting rifles of the XVIII-XIX centuries, which attracts with its elegant forms and high art of master gunsmiths; wonderful collections of porcelain and antique furniture.

The archaeological collections of the Kherson Museum of Local Lore contain a unique collection of lapidary monuments from the Museum of Antiquities of Pontus Scythianus in Chisinau.

The history department displays the diversity of the region's antiquities: from Scythian gold jewelry and ancient Greek marble sculptures to Cossack weapons, the first drawings of the Kherson fortress, and artworks of the past centuries. The centerpiece is an exposition dedicated to the foundation of Kherson and the historical figures associated with it: G.O. Potemkin, A.V. Suvorov, F.F. Ushakov. Ethnographic objects, which are evidence of the multinational composition of the region, attract visitors' attention.

Unique book editions, the most valuable collections of bookplates and engravings, manuscripts, original paintings, historical and memorabilia of prominent writers who became part of the world's literary elite are on display: Pushkin, Tolstoy, Kruchonikh, Burliuk, Lavrenov, Kulish are exhibited in the museum's literary department.

The unique collection of flora and fauna of Kherson oblast, created in the late nineteenth century by the famous biologist Y. K. Pachosky, is the basis of the natural history department. The exhibition "Rare and Endangered Animals of the World" is interesting for Kherson residents and visitors, where you can see the Ussuri tiger, leopard, snow leopard, and bears of various species. A real gem is the exposition dedicated to the wonderful world of the Lower Dnipro, the estuary, the Azov and Black Seas. The central exhibit of the "World Ocean Dwellers" section is one of the largest museum objects in Ukraine - a 30-meter whale skeleton.

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  • Маньковська Р. В. Херсонський обласний краєзнавчий музей // Енциклопедія історії України : у 10 т. / редкол.: В. А. Смолій (голова) та ін. ; Інститут історії України НАН України. — К. : Наукова думка, 2013. — Т. 10 : Т — Я. — С. 381. — 784 с. : іл. — ISBN 978-966-00-1359-9.
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