The Sheltozero Veps Ethnographic Museum named after Rurik Petrovich Lonin is the only state museum in Russia that is dedicated to the material and spiritual culture of the Veps — an indigenous small people of the Russian Federation.
The museum was founded as a folk museum in 1967 by the famous local historian, writer, and collector of Veps folklore Rurik Petrovich Lonin (1930–2009). During the existence of the folk museum, unique collections were gathered which explored traditional occupations and crafts, life and economy, folk beliefs and holidays of the Veps.
Today the museum is located in
a traditional Veps house, built at the beginning of the 19th century by major
contractor Ivan Melkin. This is one of the most beautiful and largest houses in
the Veps region, a monument of wooden Karelian architecture.
