Discover Krasnoturyinsk

• The Fedorov Geological Museum was founded in 1894 in Tur’inskiye Rudniki, now Krasnoturinsk.
• The A. S. Popov Memorial House Museum is housed in a wooden building dating from the mid-19th century at 70 Popov Street.
• Alexander Popov was born in this house and spent his childhood there from 1859 to 1867.
• The stone Church of St. Maxim the Confessor was built between 1844 and 1851 and restored from 2000 to 2006.
• The local history museum offers bus and walking tours of historic sites in the city and region; check current availability before your trip.

Yevgraf Stepanovich Fedorov and Alexander Andreyevich Auerbach founded the museum in 1894 in Tur’inskiye Rudniki, now Krasnoturinsk. It was the first geological museum in Russia with a practical focus. Its original purpose included collecting materials on the geological structure of the Bogoslovsky mining district. The museum therefore centers on regional history conveyed through rocks and geological connections.

The museum’s early development is also part of its history: it opened to the general public in 1898 and received the official name “Fedorovsky Geological Museum” in 1899. These dates describe its development at the time and should be distinguished from the question of what visitor options are available today.

The A. S. Popov Memorial House Museum is housed in a wooden building dating from the mid-19th century at 70 Popov Street. Alexander Popov was born there and spent his childhood there from 1859 to 1867. The address thus connects the history of a particular house with a clearly defined period in Popov’s life.

A monument to A. S. Popov stands on Lenin Street, in front of a branch building of Ural Federal University. Together, the house and monument offer two distinct ways to connect with his name: the house as the place of his birth and childhood, and the monument as a feature of public space.

The stone Church of St. Maxim the Confessor was built between 1844 and 1851 and restored from 2000 to 2006. The historical context of the stone Alexander Nevsky Chapel is different: it was built in the 1870s to commemorate the emancipation of the peasants from serfdom. Comparing the two reveals their different reasons for construction without reducing them to the same period or meaning.

Another point of reference is the memorial complex to the residents of Krasnoturinsk who fell at the fronts of the Great Patriotic War from 1941 to 1945. It opened on May 9, 1979. When choosing historical topics, you can distinguish between architecture, a specific biographical connection and public commemoration.

The Krasnoturinsk Local History Museum adds the beginnings of Tur’inskiye Rudniki to these perspectives. Its exhibitions also show everyday objects from the mid-20th century, as used by the residents of the settlement from which Krasnoturinsk developed. This shifts the focus to settlement history and everyday life rather than geology or individual life stories.

The local history museum offers bus and walking tours of historic sites in the city and region. If you would like to include a tour in your plans, check current availability before your trip. You can pair the tours with the different themes represented by the museums and buildings: geological history, settlement life, biography, architecture or commemorative culture.

You can find another kind of museum in the wider destination of Sverdlovsk Oblast: the Museum Complex for Civil and Military Equipment in Verkhnyaya Pyshma has more than 15,000 exhibits, including over 2,000 civilian and military vehicles. This regional collection has a different thematic focus from the sites described in Krasnoturyinsk; its collection figures may change.

Discover more destinations: Iset', Kushva, Nikonova, Priiskovyy, Monetnyy, Severka, Reftinsky, Malaya Belonosova.

What topics does the Krasnoturinsk Local History Museum cover?

The exhibitions cover the beginnings of Tur’inskiye Rudniki and show everyday objects used by residents of the settlement in the mid-20th century.

What makes the history of the Fedorov Geological Museum distinctive?

Founded in 1894, it was intended to collect materials on the geological structure of the Bogoslovsky mining district and was the first geological museum in Russia with a practical focus.

What kinds of tours does the local history museum offer?

The museum offers bus and walking tours of historic sites in the city and region. Check current availability before your trip.

Go to the wider travel overview: Sverdlovsk Oblast.