The variety of museums in the Vologda Oblast caters for people with a wide range of interests. Visitors tour the oblast's many museums, which together house a large collection of items from Russia's past. Numerous architectural monuments reflect the history of the region, most of them were turned into museums.
The Vologda State Museum-Preserve is the most comprehensive and significant exhibition of Russian art including more than 400,000 artworks from the 13th century to the present.
The museum is situated in the centre of the city on the territory of the Vologda Kremlin. There are several branches of the Museum. They are the House of Peter the Great (47, Sovetsky Avenue), the Museum of K.Batyushkov (2, Batyushkov Street), the Museum of A.Mozhaisky (the village of Mozhaiskoe), the Museum of Architecture and Ethnography (the village of Semenkovo).
The Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery (Museum) with its 11 beautiful churches is the largest monastrery in Russia. Many foreign tourists visit it every year. The Monastery was founded in the 14th century and soon became a great cultural and religious centre in Russia's North. It is famous for its rich collection of icons, church books, utensils, weapon and armour.
The museum of Dionisy's Frescoes in Ferapontovo is famous all over the world. It is inscribed in the World Heritage List of UNESCO.
One of the largest museums of Russia's North is situated in Cherepovets. It includes 11 museums and displays about 200,000 exhibits. The Museum has a large collection of church books, manuscripts and icons. The Cherepovets Museum is famous for its great collection of porcelain produced by the imperial porcelain works, and glass items dating back to the epoch of Catherine II and Paul I. The Cherepovets Art Museum has a large collection of paintings of such famous artists as Rokotov, Levitsky, Borovikovsky, Repin, Makovsky, Makarov, Kustodiev, Kandinsky, Vereshchagin, etc. The city boasts a Memorial Museum of Vasili Vereshchagin, the great battle-painter. The Cherepovets Archaeological Museum with its exhibits dating from the mesolite period is also worth visiting.
The town of Veliky Ustyug is a sort of an open-air museum. The city is noted for its architectural monuments and works of art. The unique cathedrals, churches and monasteries of Veliky Ustyug attract many tourists.
Veliky Ustyug has always been a centre for handicrafts. Even in the heathen times it achieved renown of a town of skilled craftsmen. No account of the artistic development of the town would be complete without mentioning decorative, applied and fine arts. The northern niello is one of the most unique handicrafts which has gained the world fame. The Veliky Ustyug Museum stands out for its rich collections of niello, decorations, kitchen utensils and hand-made goods made of birch bark.
The Vologda Picture Gallery is one of the best galleries in the North-West of Russia. In the spacious halls of the Gallery one can see Old-Russian painting, West European painting, Russian painting from the 18-20th centuries, Russian graphic art dating back to the 19-20th centuries and the works of modern Vologda artists.
The Museum of Diplomatic Corps in Vologda deals with a period when foreign embassies were located there after leaving Moscow at the beginning of the Civil War. There are unique exhibits in the Museum of Diplomatic Corps, such as documents, business letters from the record offices of Russia, the USA, Great Britain and France. The personal things and the interior of 1918 create the atmosphere of Russia in the post-revolutionary period.
