Museums and galleries in Staraya Russa

Museums and galleries in Staraya Russa

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   Dostoevsky's House Museum

   Дом-музей Ф.М.Достоевского

   The Dostoevsky family spent their summers in the healthy country climate of Staraya Russa from 1872 through 1914—well past the writer's death in 1881. His time here saw some of his most prolific work, most importantly his masterpiece The Brothers Karamazov. The large, green, wooden dacha on the riverbank is today a carefully curated shrine to the great nineteenth century writer, having survived the revolutions and wars of the twentieth century unscathed. The first floor hosts exhibits, while the second floor is arranged and recreated in the same way as the Dostoevsky family kept it.

   10:00-18:00 daily·RUB 70
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   Museum of the Northwest Front

   Музей северо-западного фронта

   A modest military history museum with exhibits on the history of the Russian Northwest Front during World War II.

   Mon Wed-Fri 10:00-18:00, Sun 09:00-17:00·RUB 70
3. SeeMuseum

   Dostoevsky Cultural Centre

   Научно-культурный центр Ф.М.Достоевского

   This neat little neoclassical building has small temporary exhibits on the life and works of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, but the main reason to come is if you are interested in having a local guide take you around the town's literary sites (in Russian).

   Tue-Fri Sun 10:00-18:00·RUB 70; tours: c. RUB 300

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   Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Savior

   Спасо-Преображенский монастырь

   The monastery includes the beautiful Cathedral of the Transfiguration (1442), the Church of the Nativity (early seventeenth century) and Sretensky Church (early seventeenth century), all having charming wooden domes. Closed following the Bolshevik Revolution, it is today managed by the Museum of Local History, which houses in the buildings both a small regional museum and an art gallery with exhibits by local artists.

   Mon Wed-Fri 10:00-18:00, Sat Sun 09:00-17:00·RUB 70 for the museum and art gallery each
5. See

   Staraya Russa Balneologic Resort

   Курорт Старая Русса

   While today foreigners come to Staraya Russa because of Dostoevsky, and Dostoevsky alone, the town was for hundreds of years known for its balneologic resort, where ailing Russians would come and avail themselves of the mineral water and mud treatments. The buildings and sculptures throughout the park are for the most part pretty unremarkable, whereas the so-called Muravyovsky Fountain merits a visit. This big fountain at the centre of the complex is built atop a natural mineral water spring, and for most of its history was covered by a rather marvellous metal pavilion, with covered galleries, adorned with wooden carvings, running from the fountain to the hotel and to the wooden theatre. The complex was almost completely destroyed in World War II. In the early 1980s, the government made a half-hearted attempt to erect a new metal dome over the fountain, but the salt in the air corroded the metal and quickly brought it down. Today, the fountain is a shell of its once majestic stature—even the flow has been reduced to reduce salt water damage to nearby trees. But you can still sample its waters from the Drinking Pavilion behind it—chilled or hot like it came out of the ground.

   Muravyovsky Fountain 'gives' water strictly on schedule 07:00-09:00, 11:30-14:30, 18:00-19:30

6. SeeMuseum

   Усадьба средневекового Рушанина

   Музей-реконструкция средневековой усадьбы

   Closed · opens 11 am tomorrow

7. SeeHistory museum

   Старорусский музей

   Монастырская площадь 1

8. SeeMuseum

   Museum of Local History

   Closed · opens 10 am Wednesday

9. SeeArt gallery

   Picture gallery

   Closed · opens 10 am Wednesday

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Staraya Russa (CC BY-SA 4.0). Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Place data from Overture Maps.