Ilmen Reserve

Ilmensky Reserve is one of several in Russia, which is directly supervised by the Russian Academy of Sciences, so without excessive pathos, this territory can be called the ecological heritage of the country. The region is truly unique for its natural landscape and living world. More than 260 minerals have been found here, 11 of which have been discovered for the first time in the world, and among plants there are species found only here. More than 30 lakes are great places to relax not only with your body, but also with your soul. One of the famous is Lake Turgoyak. Naturally, the scientific museum of the Ilmensky Reserve is one of the largest geological and mineralogical museums in Russia. The museum has six halls: the Mineralogy Hall of deposits, the Collector’s Hall, the Ilmen History Hall, the Ilmen Hall, the biological hall, the total area is 2050 sq.m. The museum fund has about 30 thousand units, more than 9 thousand exhibits are presented in the halls. The reserve received its name from the Ilmensky mountain range. It is also called one of the local lakes. However, there are two versions of the origin of this name. According to the first, it comes from the Bashkir language and means “safe”, “harmless” – that is, it emphasizes the accessibility and convenience of the place. According to the second interpretation, it means the personal name of a person or family group that once lived here, and then passed to the mountains and the lake.