Museum of History

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Kharkiv Museum of History is one of the biggest and oldest museums in Ukraine. It owns significant collection of valuable exhibits, telling about city's and Left-bank Ukraine's tough history.

It was founded in 1920 as the Slobodskaya Ukraine Museum and was situated on the premises of the Intercession Monastery for a long time. Since the late 20th century, museum's collection is kept in the former city pawnshop's building, which is a very interesting architectural monument.

Its unique collection is, in fact, much older than the museum itself. It is based on early collections gathered by University and other Kharkiv museums, as well as some private ethnographic collections and funds formed during numerous expeditions. Objects previously owned by prominent Ukrainian cultural figures - philosopher Grigory Skovoroda and poet Taras Shevchenko - are among Museum's valuables.

Today Kharkiv Museum of History numbers four perfectly designed exhibition sections: primitive society, feudalism, capitalism, and Soviet times. Exhibits' total number is impressive - over 250 000 original monuments of material and spiritual culture. Interesting archeological, ethnographic, numismatic collections and collections of artworks are among them.

Museum's pride is unique Cossacks' relicts, the Gospel issued in Hetman Mazepa's times, precious objects. Here you may also see samples of firearms and cold steels of domestic and foreign production, original historical documents, rare photos, flags, war decorations from pre-war and post-war times.

Two tanks - British Mark V from the World War I times and Soviet T-34 from the World War II times - as well as several cannons used by the Red Army in 1941-1945 are installed on the ground in front of the Museum of History.