Medvegorsk City Museum

In 1962, a museum was founded in the city of Medvezhyegorsk under the leadership of the teacher of boarding school No. 4 Viktor Petrovich Ershov. Initially, the museum was created as a school local history and was completely devoted to the history of the region. The original collection consisted of household items of citizens, icons, embroidery and elements of folk costume. The museum received its municipal status only in 1991. The museum occupies an ancient building, which is an architectural monument, built in 1935, which was once a hotel for White Sea Canal workers.

Thirty years before the opening of the school museum in Bear Mountain, the White Sea-Baltic Canal Museum was built. The surviving exhibits of the White Sea-Baltic Canal Museum have added to the collections of the new museum, which, in fact, is its successor. In 1999, a permanent exhibition called “BBK” appeared in the museum. Milestones of history. Its authors are E.O. Tumash, S.I. Koltyrin and artist Yu.V. Ozerov. The White Sea exposition is a collection of photographic materials and documentation, as well as other items that reflect the difficult history of the construction of the canal.

Since 1989, the museum has been working with Petrozavodsk Memorial to collect documents from citizens and residents of lock settlements, as well as from guests who come to the Memorial Days in Sandormokh. The museum significantly expanded its collection at the end of 1990 due to the search for documentation and photo materials in the state archives of the Karelian Territory, in the archives of the BBC Department, as well as with the help of personal belongings of former employees of the channel. At the moment, the collected materials are divided into two main categories: the first tells about the history of the White Sea-Baltic Canal itself, the second is dedicated to the Sandormokh memorial cemetery. The museum has more than 1,000 exhibits dedicated to the history of the Gulag. And that's not the limit. The collection is constantly supplemented with new items, and there are also constructive changes in the exhibition itself.

In 2008, the museum underwent a complete renovation of the exposition. “The Story of One Shooting” is the name of the new exhibition, which entered the main collection of the museum after all the updates. This exhibition was prepared by the St. Petersburg Memorial Research Center, and earlier it was presented in the city house of culture of Medvezhyegorsk. The museum constantly holds thematic meetings, history lessons for schoolchildren and lectures for students. For greater interest in excursions dedicated to the history of BBK, a special link of role-playing games was introduced. The museum also produced a video showing the history of the canal itself. This material is widely used in lessons and lectures on the history of the Medvezhyegorsky district.

During the summer holidays, the museum staff organize special memorial trips with schoolchildren in Sandormoh. The museum is an active participant in the organization of memorial days in Sandormokh, which are held every year on August 5.

The museum is successfully located next to the major highway Petrozavodsk-Pudozh-Kargopol, the so-called "Blue Road", on Kirov Square, which is almost in the center of the city. This location of the museum makes it convenient to visit, both organized tourist groups and individual excursionists.

In addition to large documentary materials, the museum has unique items made of birch bark, wood painting, Zaonezh embroidery, icons, as well as copper casting.

In summer, an exhibition entitled “With Love from Medvezhyegorsk” opens at the museum. There are products made of stones and gems of the Onega factory, products of the Zaonezh embroidery factory, unusual icons made of stone of the Tsiglevkin family and other souvenir products.