Valdai Museum of Local History

The Valdai Museum was founded in 1918 on the basis of the sacristy of the Valdai Iversky monastery. By the 80s, its main collection was formed - a collection of bells, which allowed in 1995 to open a retrospective museum of Russian bells.

The peculiarity of the museum is that its exhibits can not only be seen, but also listen. It is also possible to see the techniques and techniques of bell ringing, try to call yourself.

The last decade of the Valdai branch’s activity was marked by an active acquisition of historical and household family collections, which ultimately led to the creation in 1998 of the most interesting museum of the county city.

This museum shows the world of the Russian province, a certain county city N, but through cloaked fates, specific things, specific events of a particular city that stood in the middle of the capital’s tract and combined the county silence, patriarchal lifestyle, the ability to combine the traditional with the new.

The museum has an exhibition hall, which regularly hosts thematic exhibitions.

The first museum in Valdai (Nikonov Museum) opened in December 1918. His collection included items of the Iversky monastery.

In 1930, in connection with the closure of the monastery, the most valuable items are transferred to Novgorod museums. On the basis of the rest, a local history museum of Valdai is created.

In 1941 the museum was evacuated. In 1945 the collection of exhibits of the museum began again.

In 1953, the museum was closed.

In 1963 the Valdai City Public Museum of Local Lore was opened.

In 1966, the museum joined the unified museum network of the region, becoming a branch of the Novgorod Museum-Reserve.

In 1970, the museum received a separate building - a church in the name of St. Catherine.

In 1971, a new exposition of the local history museum was opened.

And in 1980 it was replaced by the exposition "Valdai Bell"

In 1995, the exposition "Valdai Bell" was replaced by the first in Russia and the Museum of Bells, in which both church, Yamshchitsky and many other bell objects are widely represented.

In 1998, a new unique exposition of the County City Museum opened, in which you can learn not exactly the history of Valdai, get acquainted with the life of indigenous Valdai people and Valdai summer residents, but also see the peculiarity of the Russian province as a whole.