“Manor of the Medieval ‘Rushanin’ (citizen)” Reconstruction Museum

The idea to recreate the way of life of the old Russian middle ages was born in the 1970s, when large-scale archaeological research was carried out in the city. During the excavations the remains of courtyards, residential buildings, and salt-baked stoves were found. The initial concept of the museum estate was developed in 2006. Several years later the municipality allocated a grant for the implementation of the project. The cooperation of the head of the old Russian Archaeological Expedition, Elena Toropova, with the entrepreneurs and patrons Oleg Suvorov and Yuri Kuznetsov, allowed us to start the construction of the museum of “living history” with maximum accuracy in a short time. The construction of the museum began in April 2014. The layout, location, configuration, and dimensions of the building are reproduced on the basis of real data from archaeological excavations in Staraya Russa.

The museum’s buildings are exact copies-reconstructions of medieval buildings: stoves, a choir, a black bath, a woodshed, a smithy, a granary, a corral for livestock and birds, as well as elements of urban improvement – a wooden pavement and a palisade. The main goal of the museum is to promote ancient Russian culture and involve the younger generation in the study of the history of Russia.

The museum’s exposition consists of the items of Russian traditional peasant life. Household items, a baby’s cradle, and an authentic stove are presented in the residential hut. The museum presents an exhibition of artifacts, found on the territory of the Staraya Russa, and a unique collection of salt from different parts of the world.