Saratov Regional Museum of Local History

The Museum of Local History in Saratov is one of the oldest local history museums in Russia. It was founded on December 12, 1886 as a historical and archaeological museum under the Saratov Scientific Archival Commission. By 1889, the collection of the museum contained 144 exhibits – items were transferred to the exhibition by Saratov institutions and residents of the city.

Today, the museum has 400,000 exhibits. Collections are located in 30 exhibition halls and tell about the nature and history of the Saratov region from antiquity to the present day. Among the permanent expositions are “The City and People”, telling about the capital of the Volga region of the early XX century; “Natural rarities”, dedicated to rare animals and plants of the region; “The Road to Space”, acquainting with the Saratov period in the biography of the first cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and his studies in the industrial and pedagogical technical school and aeroclub, and other expositions.