The Mordovian Republican United Museum of Local Lore (MROKM) is one of the oldest cultural and educational institutions in Mordovia. Thousands of visitors visit it annually. Among them are many tourists from different regions of the Russian Federation and from abroad who want to get acquainted with the culture and history of the republic and the Mordovian people.
Base
At the end of November 1918, during a meeting of the department of public education of the Saransk district, it was decided to organize a county museum. To this end, the leadership of the UONO appealed to the population of the city and surrounding villages with a call to provide objects of historical value to the museum. In addition, a society was created, the main purpose of which was to study the native land.
To accommodate the museum allocated a room of 45 square meters. m. in the house of N. Vetchinkin, at ul. Penza, 1 (Rabochaya street). The museum was opened for visiting in June 1919. Initially, the exposition was an exhibition of paintings, porcelain, sculptures and other objects expropriated from landowners and entrepreneurs. As museum windows, the equipment of the former largest haberdashery store of Saransk “Slavic Bazaar” was used.
In the former house of Vetchitkin, a room was also allocated for the OIRK (Society for the Study of the Native Land), which included museum enthusiasts A. Miloslavsky, doctors Y. Narovchatsky, M. Berezin, the Sokolov brothers, teachers of local educational institutions and others.
Further story
From the very first days of its foundation, OIRK has been actively collecting exhibits. In particular, its members traveled a lot to the surrounding settlements to collect materials on ethnography. They purchased traditional casual and holiday clothes from the peasants, as well as bought Mordovian hats. Thanks to the efforts of the members of the OIRK, by 1922 the museum funds already totaled about 2500 storage units, and it was decided to allocate the former house of the mayor M. Nikitin located at Ilyinskaya street (modern Bolshevistskaya street) for the museum. After the move, a darkroom, 2 terrariums, a workshop, a small library were arranged, and a botanical garden was founded.
In 1935, the museum again changed its address and marked its exposition in the Three Saints Church, which is located to this day.
At the beginning of the war, the building was temporarily handed over to the military, and the exhibits were transferred to the so-called Pugachev tent. There they remained until 1944, and then were returned to their original place.
In the 1950s, the museum was modernized, and modern equipment was installed there at that time. In addition, an updated exposition opened, which included many new exhibits dedicated to the Second World War and its heroes.
In the following decades, museum staff conducted active work throughout Mordovia. In particular, they made every effort to open a network of branches, as well as the foundation of an art gallery named after F. Sychkova, who was given many paintings.
In 1995, the institution was renamed the Mordovian Republican United Museum of Local Lore.
Building
As already mentioned, the Mordovian Republican United Museum of Local Lore is housed in the former Trekhsvyatsky Church, which is an architectural monument of the 18th century. In the 1930s, the building was rebuilt, he had several special outbuildings.
Description
The Mordovian Republican United Museum of Local Lore named after I. D. Voronin currently has funds with more than 200, 000 items. Its exposition is divided into 3 main departments: history, nature and modernity. It presents household items and folk art, documents relating to the historical past of Mordovia, the achievements of science, culture and technology; works of art, etc.
The museum has an exhibition hall, where, among other things, various cultural events are held.
On the territory of IROKM there is a historical monument - Pugachevskaya tent. It is a farm building, once owned by the widow of the city governor Avdotya Kamenitskaya. At a time when the city was captured by the army of Emelyan Pugachev, feasts and public executions were held in it, and from its porch a rebel announced his "royal manifestos."
What else is interesting Mordovian Republican United Museum of Local Lore
Mordovia is rightfully proud of the IROCM. Of particular admiration is the design of his exposition. It was performed by a group of artists and sculptors, led by architect I. Zubin.
One of the most interesting sections of the museum exposition is the Mordovian Wedding Hall. It was the result of an interesting project, as a result of which the book of the same name by the Mordovian ethnographer M. Evseviev was “translated” into the museum language. The visitor will be able to learn a lot of new things in other halls of the museum.
In particular, in the first hall of the department of the pre-revolutionary historical period there are exhibits that are artifacts found during archaeological excavations of the ancient Mordovian burial grounds.
The next part of the exhibition is dedicated to what medieval Mordovia was like. Saransk in this period was a fortress that gave rise to the city, which later on appeared more than once in the epicenter of peasant riots.
Among the exhibits of the museum there are also documents and objects dedicated to the two World War II and the Civil War and the events of the Soviet period.
Services
In the museum for a fee you can:
- to get a consultation;
- book a tour for a group of 25 people;
- make professional video shooting;
- photocopy documents;
- organize and conduct field trips around Saransk and to the attractions located in its vicinity;
- and so forth
Branches
The capital of the Republic of Mordovia - Saransk - is a city that does not differ in the variety of museums. However, thanks to the IROCM employees, who continue the traditions of local history, which were laid down by the famous scientist and writer I. D. Voronin, such institutions today operate in many settlements. In particular, at the moment the museum has 9 branches located in Insar, Ruzayevka, Ardatov, Kovylkino, Chamzinka, Temnikov (2), Dubenki, memorial museums in Temnikov and in the village of Torbeevo. Reviews indicate that in almost all of them there are many exhibits of great interest.
