Theodosian Museum of Antiquities

The Museum of Local Lore in Feodosia is the oldest city museum in Crimea and one of the oldest museums in Europe.

The museum was founded on May 13, 1811 by Feodosia mayor M. Bronevsky. Its creation was caused by an urgent need - in Feodosia, which has an ancient history, by that time a considerable number of ancient monuments had been collected. The first building of the museum was more a repository of antiquities than a museum. But gradually the collection grew thanks to donors, patrons and archaeological excavations conducted in the city and in its vicinity.

Currently, more than 80 thousand exhibits are listed in the museum funds. Its exposition is located in the building of the late XIX century. on the city embankment. In the eight halls of the museum you can see not only the finds of archaeologists, but also a lot of ethnographic and documentary materials, collections of ancient species postcards, minerals, fossils, herbaria. The unique dioramas of the nature hall give an idea of the landscapes of the South-Eastern Crimea. Part of the rich collection of ancient stone slabs is placed in the open air in a very cozy courtyard of the museum, lined with medieval slab pavement and pavers of the XIX – first half of the twentieth century.

Along with the permanent sections of the exposition, the museum has a variety of exhibitions related to local history, the history of the city, the work of the Feodosians.