Sights of Myshkin - a city of unusual museums

Myshkin is a small but amazingly beautiful town in the Yaroslavl region on the shore of the Rybinsk Reservoir . The proximity of a dense coniferous forest and the absence of industrial enterprises contribute to a favorable environmental situation. The city of Myshkin preserves the historical and cultural heritage of Russia and is included in the Small Golden Ring of Russia .
In recent years, the amazing sights of Myshkin have made it even more attractive to tourists and travelers. Myshkin stretches along the Volga for 4 kilometers; if you wish, you can walk around the city in just 1 day! You can start exploring the city from the museum complex, which is located on the street. Uglichskaya is very close to the ferry crossing and the entrance to Myshkin from the Uglich highway.
It is no coincidence that Myshkin is called a museum city. On the streets of Nikolskaya, Uglichskaya, and Karl Liebknecht, many merchant mansions , as well as some administrative and public buildings, have been preserved. All of them are architectural monuments of the 19th – 20th centuries. The courtyards of some houses invite you to admire antique finds.

Residents of Myshkin love their city and preserve its history and traditions. Guests are always welcome here: cozy hotels and restaurants serving Russian cuisine will leave only a positive impression of the small county town.

Myshkin embankment

Myshkin Museums

Myshkin is home to many unusual museums , thanks to which this city has become famous not only throughout Russia, but also beyond its borders. It seems that the residents of Myshkin have not thrown anything away for the last 100 years and have brought everything to museums. There is everything here: from platbands, icons and baskets to a sausage press and a lemonade machine.

Myshkin Museums. The Mouse Museum is in the background.

The museums are located compactly - literally at one intersection, forming a single complex, which includes:

• The world's only Mouse Museum
• Museum “Capital of Pilots” – Local Lore Museum of the History of Life in the City
• Museum of small forms of peasant architecture.
• Museum of unique equipment " Myshkinsky Samokhod "
• Vodka Museum in the house of the great vodka maker P.A. Smirnov
• Museum of the Myshkin Peasantry
• Craft settlement (two operating forges, turning, weaving, pottery workshops)
• Museum "Makhaev's House or Time as a Merchant"
• Museum of the Uchem region in the village of Uchma near Myshkin
• Souvenir workshop “ Mouse from Myshkin ”

Mouse Museum

The history of the city is preserved by the Mouse Museum , which was founded in 1966 by city residents who were passionate about studying the history and nature of their native land. Do not confuse this museum with the tourist attraction “Mouse Chambers”!

Exhibit at the Mouse Museum in Myshkin

The museum has more than 5,000 “inhabitants” of all kinds : made of porcelain, wood, metal, plastic, handmade textile and knitted mice, entire mouse families, a collection of badges depicting animals, and even Mickey Mouse with his girlfriend! You can spend more than one hour in the museum looking at the collection. The guides will be happy to share with visitors legends about the origin of the name of the city of Myshkin and stories about these funny animals.

To view the exhibition with a guide, you must contact the museum two days before your visit.

Museum of unique equipment "Myshkinsky Samokhod"

The GAZ lorry has become the “face” of the Myshkinsky Samokhod museum.
In the Myshkinsky Samokhod museum of unique equipment you can see cars and motorcycles that survived the Second World War, and pre-war boats. The famous “lorry” GAZ-AA and ZIS-5, the American “Willis”, the legendary Emka - “Russian black funnel” GAZ-M1 - all this unique equipment has been carefully stored in the museum for decades.

You can sit behind the wheel of some of the exhibits and take pictures. The museum's curators can demonstrate the operation of some of the devices that were used in agriculture in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Historical and Ethnographic Museum

Historical and Ethnographic Museum
The Museum of the Myshkin Peasantry , located on the territory of the so-called Craft Settlement, contains an interesting collection of tools that were used for processing sheep wool, skins and linen. The largest collection of spinning wheels in the Yaroslavl region is also located here .

Examples of peasant architecture - baths, barns, granaries, forges - all this is in the Ethnographic Museum.

Museum of Small Forms of Peasant Architecture.

The historical and ethnographic museum contains examples of carpentry and construction art . Peasant barns, barns, and forges introduce you to the life of Rus'. The exhibits were brought from different places. Here you can see the Old Believer barn and the Yuryev Chapel brought from the Sit River, a windmill, a beacon keeper's house and a boby's house. Shown here are granaries and barns, chapels and forges, a bathhouse and a collective farm barn, a mill and a village fire station.

Historical and Household Museum

The Museum of the "Capital of Pilots" stores a collection of household and interior items and tells about the history of the founding of Myshkin, the honorary and famous residents of the city, the history of Myshkin shipping and merchants-philanthropists. Myshkin at one time flourished thanks to the pilotage and merchant business. This museum contains a rich collection of household items of that time.

Chistov Estate Museum

The Chistov estate was built on the high bank of the Volga.
The territory of the estate of merchant Timofey Chistov is another wonderful complex of exhibitions. During an educational excursion at the Flax Museum, guides will tell you how fiber is obtained from flax seeds, show you ancient spinning wheels and flax combs, and demonstrate the operation of a weaving loom.

Felt Felt Museum and Chapel in the courtyard of the Chistov estate

In the outbuilding of T. Chistov’s estate, located at st. Nikolskaya, 18, the exhibition “Russian felt boots” , where an interesting collection of traditional Myshkin felt boots, which are made from the wool of gray Romanov breed sheep, has been collected. In this museum you can see the process of making felt boots , learn about the signs and traditions associated with them, and also buy a couple as a souvenir!

Visitors can take part in a master class on making a traditional linen doll and buy linen towels and napkins.

At
the Old Chistov Mill , which in ancient times was the largest in the city of Myshkin, you can see how grain turns into flour . One of the examples of church architecture, the Myshkin Chapel of Frol and Lavra - a wooden house chapel of the Chistov merchants built in the 19th century - is also located on the territory of this estate.

Museum of Living Crafts

Moving up the street. Nikolskaya, you can go to the Museum of Living Crafts to not only see, but also take part in the process of making hand-made things. This museum is located in a 19th-century building that formerly housed a parochial school. In the potter's workshop, visitors observe the process of creating pottery; in the carpenter's workshop, they get acquainted with the methods of wood processing. And the keepers of the ancient craft in the forge will tell you how metal was processed in Rus', about the production of charcoal, about the intricacies of forging, about methods of welding metal, about its hardening. Forged, clay and wooden products can be purchased at the fair or you can try to make them yourself under the guidance of professional craftsmen.

Mousegorod - the city of craftsmen

Myshgorod is a city of craftsmen in Povodnevo.
A branch and continuation of the Museum of Crafts became a new city of craftsmen near the village of Povodnevo, 6 km from Myshkin. Blacksmiths, potters and other craftsmen work there.

There is also a small exhibition of old cars . The oldest car is a captured Opel from 1938.

Here you can stop for the night, go to the bathhouse, and swim in the Volga.

There is also a Museum of Living Crafts in Kolomna

Brief history

The existence of the village was mentioned already in the 15th century. This information is contained in the charter of 1605, which was granted by the ruler. She was given to the boyar Danila Ivanovich Mezetsky. In the 17th century, the village was part of the Moscow Chudov Monastery. This led to the fact that over time the settlement began to increase in size.

Many buildings for economic purposes appeared - stables, warehouses, barns, mills and others. Later, the village was transferred to the department of state economy and began to be called a settlement. City status appeared in 1777. The coat of arms featured a shield.

The end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century was the heyday of the city. Various schools and colleges appeared, a public library and a printing house opened. The place became the center of fair sales. Merchants from nearby settlements came here to trade. Many products were sent to St. Petersburg.

Cultural and educational life did not stand still. They built a pedagogical college, sports organizations, museums, an art gallery, and their own weather station appeared.

A memorial cross was erected at the confluence of the Volga and Yukhot. There is an inscription on it. These are words from a legend. They say that once a gray mouse saved a great ruler from a poisonous snake. Although scientists doubt this legend, no one wanted to give up the beautiful story. In honor of the great salvation, a chapel was subsequently built. She was guarded by a watchman. The gatehouse became the first housing that appeared on this land.

Today, the compact town is visited by a large number of tourists. It attracts with stunning beauty, tranquil surroundings and an abundance of iconic food. The city is included in the Golden Ring of Russia.

Club-museum of retro equipment "Crew"

Another museum of old equipment is located at K. Liebknecht Street, 25. This exhibition was assembled by Nikolai Lushin. The result was an interesting collection of motorcycles, cars, and household items . The museum's exhibition tells about life in former times through everyday objects. There are not only parts of gas stations and kerosene shops, but also telephones, children's bicycles and pedal cars.

, the Myshkinsky Samokhod festival of retro technology is held in Myshkin . Old cars and motorcycles (and anything that moves on its own) come here from all over the country.

Cost of excursions

What to see in Myshkin

Mouse's chambers

The Myshkin Chambers tourist complex is a tourist attraction. It will be especially interesting to watch with children . The action takes place in the form of a performance: the guards ask for the password, the courtyard servants are happy to reveal all the mouse secrets and escort the guests along the mouse paths. The Mouse King himself and the Queen in the throne room talk about the difficult fate of mice and teach how to protect themselves from cat misfortunes. There is also a small cheese factory here and, of course, there are live mice.

Restaurant Mousetrap and hotel Koshkin Dom

To feel the atmosphere of this lovely city, you must have lunch at the Mousetrap (Karl Liebknecht St., 27). The interior decoration of the restaurant is made in folk style, and the dishes are prepared according to traditional Russian recipes. Even the bread here is baked in the home kitchen. Free cheese in the Mousetrap is not just a saying! Guests of the establishment are served a cheese plate while waiting for lunch! At the other end of this building is the Cat House hotel.

Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary

Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Myshkin
After lunch, you can go to Assumption Square to explore the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary , which, according to the founders of the city, was supposed to be its architectural center. Climbing up to the observation deck on the bell tower of the cathedral, you can see a panorama of the city of Myshkin from a bird's eye view.

Panorama of the city of Myshkin from the bell tower of the Assumption Cathedral

St. Nicholas Cathedral

Another large cathedral in the city is St. Nicholas Cathedral - the Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. This oldest building in the city was erected before Myshkin was given city status. It was built by the merchant of the first guild, Alexander Petrovich Berezin, whose father, out of poverty, pawned the family icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the tavern. And only 25 years later Alexey found her and bought her back. He considered it a miracle and built a stone church with his own money.

In Soviet times, the House of Culture was located here. In 2003, St. Nicholas Church was returned to the Church.

In the basement of the temple there is an exhibition “Secrets of the 8th century”. On it you can see rooms, shelves and containers for storing food (usually the basement was rented out as a warehouse). There are also huge stoves for heating the temple. The exhibition may not be open because the temple is being renovated. Nearby, in the house of the church clergy, the Museum of Family Collections . The museum has many exhibits related to the life of clergy in pre-revolutionary Russia.

Directly in front of the Cathedral there was a monument to Lenin, near which all the main events of the city took place. Lenin met tourists from the ferry, and they often took a hooligan photo of Lenin with the head of Chipolino . Now the monument to Lenin has been moved to the new building of the House of Culture.

Lenin at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Myshkin

FAQ

Where can you go with children in Myshkin? Museum of Felt Boots, Museum of the Mouse, Gallery of Dolls and Doll Miniatures, Palace of the Mouse, Museum "Myshkinsky Samokhod".

What attractions in Myshkin should a tourist see first? Felt Felt Museum, Assumption Cathedral, Sorrow Church, Miller's House Museum, Mouse Museum.

What sights of Myshkin can you see on your own? Victory Memorial, Merchant Chistov's Estate, City Embankment, Mahaev Dvor Museum, Myshkinsky Samokhod Museum, St. Nicholas Cathedral, Peter Smirnov Museum (Vodka Museum).

What to see in the vicinity of Myshkin? Church of the Ascension in Okhotino, Eco-rancho.

Photos of Myshkin sights

Myshkin. Old photo from 1903. On the left is the Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, and on the right is the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

In the Museum of Small Peasant Forms of Myshkin

On the streets of Myshkin

Streets of Myshkin. Museum of Local Lore.

How to get to Myshkin

Myshkin is located at a distance of 280 km from Moscow and 100 km from Yaroslavl . Unfortunately, Myshkin can only be reached directly by car; there are no direct bus or train connections. There is a bus service with transfers along the routes: Yaroslavl, Rybinsk, Uglich, from the Volga and Nekouz railway stations. By rail you can get to Volga station. The Moscow-Rybinsk, St. Petersburg-Ivanovo, St. Petersburg-Samara trains stop here. Electric trains run from Yaroslavl and Rybinsk to the station. Volga . Then take a bus to Myshkin (the bus stops next to the railway crossing).

Bus schedule Moscow-Myshkin (right bank)

From Moscow, from the Botanical Garden metro station, Moscow-Rybinsk buses run with a stop in Myshkin on the right bank of the Volga. Then take a ferry to the other side of the Volga.

There is no bridge across the Volga in Myshkin: in the summer, a ferry runs from the village of Korovino from 06:00 to 21:30. There is a fee for crossing for cars. Passenger transportation is free of charge. In winter, you need to go to Myshkin through Uglich (the distance between the cities is approximately 40 km).

Bus schedule in the city of Myshkin.

Where to stay in the city: hotels and prices

Myshkin awaits guests every day; a huge list of attractions awaits tourists on excursions, to take memorable photos, and in shops for unique souvenirs. You can read the descriptions of all the most interesting places in advance in order to create a schedule for visiting museums and cathedrals.

It’s not enough to come to the city for a day; it’s better to stay here for a weekend or a week so that you have enough time to look around and get acquainted with all the attractions listed above. If you wish to stay overnight, guests can stay in guest houses or book a hotel room.

The owners of the guest house "On Lesnoy" offer their guests an additional service - bicycle rental; the Summit Hotel and the Comfort Guest House offer tourists access to the existing indoor pool. But, if you are traveling with a pet, then it is better to stay in the Volga guest house, where such proximity is allowed.

The cost of a double hotel room ranges from 2,000 to 5,000 rubles, a guest house will cost approximately 1,100 – 1,700 rubles.

Nature lovers will enjoy relaxing in a pine forest on the outskirts of Myshkin: at the Lesnaya Skazka boarding house, on the other bank of the Volga at the Myshkino Podvorie hotel of the elite Mouse Inn complex, at the Okhotino recreation center.

The boarding house has 47 beds, the recreation center can accommodate 200 city guests, and the Volga and Na Lesnoy guest houses can accommodate 34 and 39 travelers.

Myshkin, whose hospitable residents are always happy to communicate, business cooperation and new acquaintances, is a city with rich attractions, which is beautiful and original not only in photos, but also in reality, and a description of places where tourists are always welcome can be found above.

Article design: Vladimir the Great