Serafimovich: Museum and Cossack Culture

• Five exhibition rooms are located in the A. S. Serafimovich house museum.
• The museum complex includes the A. S. Serafimovich Memorial House Museum, a museum on the history of the Ust-Medveditsky Cossacks, the “Kazachya Kartinnaya Galereya” exhibition hall, and a museum on the history of the district stanitsa of Ust-Medveditskaya.
• The Museum of the History of the Ust-Medveditsky Cossacks has three exhibition rooms.
• The “Na Donu gostyam my rady” (“We welcome guests on the Don”) visitor program includes a tasting of traditional Cossack dishes.

The four components focus on different subjects: the memorial house museum commemorates A. S. Serafimovich, while a separate section is devoted to the history of the Ust-Medveditsky Cossacks. The gallery displays works by artists from various parts of Volgograd Oblast who explore the subject of the Cossacks. Another museum section covers the history of the district stanitsa of Ust-Medveditskaya.

These subjects range from an individual and the history of the Cossacks to art and local history. The stanitsa hall also covers its notable residents, educational institutions and famous gymnasium graduates, as well as Orthodox churches, trade and industry. The museum complex thus offers a range of perspectives on regional history.

The three rooms of the Cossack museum are called “Kazachya gornitsa” (“Cossack Hut”), “Byt donskikh kazakov” (“The Everyday Life of the Don Cossacks”) and “Dontsy XX veka” (“The Dontsy of the 20th Century”). The titles distinguish domestic and everyday life from a focus on the 20th century; the last-named room tells of the Cossacks’ military exploits.

Exhibited objects include household items, furniture, clothing worn by Cossack men and women, photographs, a Cossack lance and fragments of Cossack uniforms. The permanent exhibition “Priroda rodnogo kraya” (“Nature of the Homeland”) complements these cultural history subjects with taxidermied birds and animals from the region. Other exhibits include archaeological finds such as Golden Horde coins and pottery shards from that period, as well as fossilized imprints of prehistoric fish in sandstone.

The museum offers visitor programs together with the Cossack folk song theater “Dontsy” (“Dontsy”). “Na Donu gostyam my rady” combines the program with a tasting of traditional Cossack dishes. In another museum program, staff and theater members perform part of the traditional wedding ritual “Kazach'emu rodu net perevodu” (“The Cossack Line Never Dies”). The ritual aims to promote and preserve ancient customs on the Don. Before your trip, check whether the programs are available on your dates; also check the museum’s current opening hours.

At the level of the wider destination of Volgograd Oblast, more cultural and landscape attractions come into view. The Park of the History of the Russian State was founded in Pyatimorsk in 2012, the year marking the 60th anniversary of the opening of the Volga–Don Canal. The park is situated on the banks of the navigable canal. The “Battle of Stalingrad” Panorama Museum offers a different historical focus: it has eight halls with exhibits from the Great Patriotic War and four painted dioramas depicting episodes from the battle.

The landscapes of Volgograd Oblast also differ markedly from the museum subjects in Serafimovich. Lake Elton is a 152 km² salt lake described as the largest in Europe; since 2001, it and the surrounding areas have been designated a specially protected natural area, and Elton Nature Park was established at the same time. In Shcherbakovsky Nature Park, areas known as the “Volga Switzerland” lie on a plateau along the banks of the Volga. The broad Shcherbakovskaya ravine is characterized by forest, flowers and grasses.

Discover more destinations: Pallasovka, Ryumino-Krasnoyarskiy, Shelomovo, Elton, Kamyshin, Kudryashevskiy, Zelenyy and Vertyachiy.

How many exhibition rooms does the museum have?

The museum has five exhibition rooms in the A. S. Serafimovich house museum. The Museum of the History of the Ust-Medveditsky Cossacks has three themed rooms within it.

What does the “Nature of the Homeland” exhibition show?

It features taxidermied animals from the region, archaeological finds—including coins and pottery shards from the Golden Horde period—and fossilized imprints of prehistoric fish in sandstone.

Are visitor programs available on every travel date?

The museum offers programs with the “Dontsy” theater, including a tasting and a performance of part of a traditional Cossack wedding ritual. Contact the museum before your trip to ask about current availability.

To the overview of the wider destination: Volgograd Oblast.