The Tula Antiquities Museum is located at Pr. Lenina, 47. The building in which the museum’s exposition is housed is one of the few art nouveau memorials in the City of Craftsmen. It was built in the early 20th century before WWI and bought by the merchant Yermolaev-Zverev.
Balconies, windows and wrought iron fittings are full of flowing, natural lines, as befits an art nouveau building. Even in the 1930s, the Yermolaev-Zverev estate retained fountains and flower beds on its grounds. Some of the outbuildings have been redesigned, and now one of them houses the second part of the exposition, for which the Tula Antiquities Museum opens its doors.
Archaeological surveys were carried out in Tula Region in the 1990s, aimed at filling the gaps in understanding the history of Tula. The decision was made to put the accumulated collections of finds ranging from the Stone Age period to the beginning of the reign of the Romanov dynasty on public display. Hence, in 1995, the Antiquities Museum opened in the city of Tula. Two years later, the new exhibition center joined the facilities of the Museum-Reserve Kulikovo Field. The best tour guides, archive workers and local historians started their careers here. This is due to the fact that the history of more than 800 exhibits of the museum provides a visual representation of the culture of Tula inhabitants, which is necessary to study the history of the Land of Craftsmen.
The Tula Antiquities Museum presents two expositions. The first one, housed right in Yermolaev-Zverev’s mansion, acquaints tourists with the most important event of Russia in the 14th century – the Battle of Kulikovo. Visitors have the opportunity to study the products of pottery and blacksmithing, to understand what armor and weapons were worn by the participants in the battle, how and from what materials they were made, and how the daily life of warriors from the times of Prince Dmitry Donskoy was arranged.
The second part of the exposition is the reconstructed hut of a Tula craftsman of the 17–19th century. The interactive tour allows museum guests to learn blacksmithing and pottery, master the basics of Old Russian writing, explore the life and traditions of Tula craftsmen, and immerse themselves in it.
Make sure you visit the Antiquities Museum! To find out the prices and buy tickets, please visit the Kulikovo Field official website or call + 7 (4872) 361-663.
