Azov Museum of Local Lore

       The Azov Museum of Local Lore is a cultural, historical, social center, pride of the town of Azov, exhibiting a rich collection of the Don Cossacks history items.

       The museum offers the visitors a rich collection of archeological units (over 280 thousand pieces), featuring over 16 thousand items from the Scythian and Sarmat period (VI b.c. – IV a.c.), items from the Neolith and Bronze epochs (IV – II b.c.) and items from the Golden Horde period (13th – 15th centuries); photos and references, numismatic, handcraft, garment and materials collections from the 19th – 20th centuries, the museum owns the richest collection of samovars, metal and copper ware in the South of Russia.

       The museum exhibits a unique collection of ancient Greek and Asian jewelry masterpieces, found at the Sarmat burial place of the 1st century b.c.

       The Museum expositions provide information about the Azov land nature, the Azov history, exhibit paintings and folk craft masterpieces. The museum is equipped with metal and ceramics restoration workshop and taxidermy laboratory, a large scientific library, with the book fund of over 21 thousand volumes.

       The North Caucasus largest paleontology collection (over 1500 units) attracts specialists and tourists interested in the history of our planet.

       The museum most popular exhibit is the Trogonidae elephant skeleton (4,5 m), more than 600 thousand years old, the only exhibited unit in Russia. The world museums have only several similar items of the Trogonidae elephant skeleton. The Azov specimen is one of the largest assembled elephant skeleton in the world, and the only skeleton with the preserved similar breed elephant skull. The other Azov Museum unique paleontology specimen is the elephant dinothere skeleton, over 5 million years old.

       A large part of the exhibited exposition is devoted to the dramatic history of the Don Cossacks fight for the Azov fortress. A dimensioned colorful diorama presents the grand event, the Don Cossacks seizure of the Turkish Azov fortress in 1637. The authentic guns, canon balls, armory, found at the fortress site, Turkish paintings and miniatures remind of the glorious event of the Azov fortress siege, when only five thousands of the Don Cossacks were protecting the fortress from over three hundred thousand Turkish army for almost four months.

       The Museum building was erected in 1892, by the project of architect F.N. Gauzenbaum, in the eclectic style; before the revolution, that was the site of the local government sittings. The Museum branch is the military engineering monument of the 18th century, the Powder-magazine, erected in 1799 by the project of engineer Delaval.

       The museum scientific expeditions continue working within the Azov and the neighboring districts territory. The Russian-Norwegian expedition of the famous traveler and researcher Tur Heierdal worked on the basis of the Azov Museum of Local Lore in 2001.