The Pskov Museum-Reserve takes history from the distant 1869. Vasilev I.I. posed to the society of art lovers the question of the need to create a museum. The reason was the finds and gifts, which began to enter the archaeological center very actively. But the idea did not receive material support, without which it was impossible to carry out such a project.
A year later, K.G. Evlentiev, who gave the committee many different finds of his own: coins, bank notes and even rock samples. Konstantin Grigoryevich again raised the question of a spacious and permanent building before the archaeological commission.
When choosing a room, the members of the Archaeological Commission were very divided. Some even suggested the construction of a completely new building.
Museum foundation
The Pskov Museum-Reserve was formed in 1872 precisely for the preservation of ancient written monuments from the canceled old archives of the city (which were parsed in connection with the judicial reform of Emperor Alexander II). They were appointed to destroy, to write off silt to sell, as if it were waste paper in a paper mill in St. Petersburg.
Organizational work
At the beginning of the 20th century, local historian Nikolai Fomich Okulich-Kazarin, who arrived in Pskov, began to systematize the museum’s funds, made the first record of all the scrolls in the archaeological museum. This inventory was published in 1906 and contained 368 monuments in brief descriptions. In addition, he published a satellite through ancient Pskov, a guidebook that is still used by lovers of Pskov antiquity.
Museum location
Since 1900, the museum has found its permanent place in the Pogankinsky Chambers. Then the Pskov Archaeological Society petitioned Sovereign Nicholas II so that this historic building was transferred in favor of the museum.
Myths and legends
Sergei Ivanovich Pagankin, in whose honor the place is named, was a Pskov merchant. At first, according to the documents, he was listed as a gardener, because there were vegetable gardens on this section of Pskov. He was also the head of customs and the circle yard, that is, drinking establishments (for this he had good material benefits). Thanks to his name, many rumors circulate around the Pagankinsky Chambers. There is a legend that many treasures left by the merchant, which have not yet been found, are buried in the territory of Pskov.
Family of organizers
A huge role in the creation of the museum was played by individuals and among them the Fan der Fleet family. Nikolai Fedorovich not only understood the need to create a museum, but also financed its creation. A few years later, his wife, the widow Elizabeth Karlovna, finances the creation of a museum in the Pogankinsky Chambers. Fan der Flit spent most of his fortune on organizing a museum and on building an art-industrial school (built in 1903, bore their name).
This was a huge step in the "conquest" of cultural space.
Post-revolutionary years
After the revolution of 1917, there was a time that simply caused enormous damage to ancient Russian art. Churches were destroyed, even what was inside was also destroyed. But the inhabitants of Pskov figured out how to save them in the 30s. They convinced local authorities that the churches that were closed should be made branches of the museum. And thus, the Pskov churches were not only not destroyed, but all relics were preserved there: the iconostasis, desktop icons, crosses and so on.
Then, in the Pskov Museum-Reserve, all directions of stylistic art in painting were presented - an excellent collection of numismatics and archeology of ancient Russian painting, as well as a wonderful collection of silver attributed to the temple museum.
In the 40s of the war
The museum, as soon as the war began, requested a train level in order to derive the most valuable. As a result, only one wagon was allocated, so very few valuables were taken out. To a large extent, the collection of silver items was preserved, because according to museum instructions, first of all, it was necessary to withdraw silver.
Pskov was occupied by German soldiers who began to take out all the museum's valuables. The Germans, when they left, exported everything in a very organized manner. There was a whole unit that was engaged in the systematic sending of values from Russia to Germany. I must say that those icons that returned to the museum from East Prussia after the war have a German code, and in this encryption they show the church from which they were taken out. In the post-war return of things to the museum, there was a lot of confusion with the museum from Novgorod.
Books compiled in the 1920s by Lyapustin Alexander Sergeyevich and the director of the Pskov Museum August Karlovich Janson make it possible to find out the composition of the pre-war museum collection. When these valuables were evacuated to the city of Sovetsk during the war, they were returned to the museum without loss according to the inventory.
