Romanov Museum in Kostroma
Romanov Museum is an ancient Kostroma museum opened in 1913 to mark the 300th anniversary of the reign of the royal Romanov dynasty. The two-story building of the museum is built in pseudo-Russian style and looks like an ancient terem. It houses exhibits about the history of the Romanov family and the Kostroma boyars, as well as a rich art collection.
Highlights
The picturesque building of the Romanov Museum is decorated with “diamond” rustication and carved frieze, and wide window openings are framed with intricate stone platbands. The main exposition is devoted to the Time of Troubles, the accession to the throne of the first tsar of the Romanov dynasty – Mikhail Romanov and the history of two noble boyar families – Godunovs and Romanovs. In addition, in the museum you can see paintings by the artists Efim Vasilievich Chesnyakov and Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev. Exhibitions of works by contemporary artists are also regularly held here.
.The ancient Romanov Museum is one of the five museums that make up the Kostroma Museum-Reserve. The neighboring house, which used to belong to the Noble Assembly, houses exhibitions about the history of the city and the life of the Kostroma nobility.
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For visitors, the doors of the Romanov Museum are open daily from 11.00 to 19.00. The ticket office closes half an hour earlier. You can see the expositions on your own, as well as during sightseeing and thematic excursions.
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History of the Romanov Museum
In the 80s of the XIX century in Kostroma was created Gubernaya Archival Scientific Commission, which was headed by Nikolai Nikolayevich Selifontov. Thanks to her, the city began to collect old things and documents, and published several volumes of local history research “Kostroma antiquity”. In 1891 in the building of the Noble Assembly opened a small Museum of Antiquities, which became the first museum in the province.
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It soon became clear that a separate building was needed to house all the exhibits. The nobility of Kostroma allocated a plot of land, but construction began only in the summer of 1909. The project of the unusual building, stylized as the chambers of the XVII century, was prepared by Kostroma architect Nikolay Ivanovich Gorlitsyn. The construction was financed by private donations and funds allocated from the Russian treasury. The museum building was erected in two years, and until 1913 the finishing of the interior halls and placement of expositions continued.
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The opening of the Romanov Museum in Kostroma was attended by Russian sovereign Nicholas II. Members of the imperial family became the first visitors of the museum halls and left autographs in the commemorative book. The creation of the dynastic museum of the royal house became one of the solemn events timed to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty..The museum had numismatic, ecclesiastical, ethnographic and historical sections. With the advent of Soviet power it was repurposed into a local history museum, and in post-war waters in the building was opened an art gallery.
.Expositions
Today, the main theme of the Romanov Museum remains the history of the royal Romanov family, as well as the closely intertwined history of the Godunov boyar family. Visitors can visit the chambers of the XVII century, see authentic things of boyar life, ancient weapons, chests, documents and books.
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No less popular with tourists is the museum section devoted to the history and traditions of etiquette of noble society. This part of the exposition presents furniture and utensils, clothing and jewelry used by the residents of Kostroma in the XIX century.
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In the art part of the Romanov Museum you can see more than one hundred works of art created in Russia during three centuries. These are paintings, graphics and sculptures. Most of the exhibits on display here appeared in the 1920s, thanks to receipts from private collections and nationalized noble estates.
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How to get there
The Romanov Museum is located on Prospekt Mira, 5, 3.7 km west of the Kostroma railway station. Susanin Square can be reached by buses #1, 2, 3, 7, 7, 9, 19, 14, 81, 101 and 102 and shuttle buses #4, 6, 7, 21, 42, 48, 56, 57, 66, 76, 93, 99 and 101. From here it will take 3-5 minutes to walk to the museum building.
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