The Polyarny Museum of History and Local Lore opened its doors to visitors on July 24, 1999. The decision to establish the museum was made on the eve of the celebration of the town’s 100th anniversary.
The museum is located in a building that was erected in 1938. The museum’s building is included in the Russian cultural heritage register as an object of cultural heritage of regional significance and accepted for state preservation.
The main exhibition of the museum reflects the most important stages of the town’s development from ancient times to the present day. Today, more than 30,000 museum items are stored in the museum’s collection (the main collection of which contains more than 10,000 items). The accumulated collection allows the permanent exhibitions to be updated and to present unique exhibits to the museum’s visitors.
The museum staff has prepared more than 100 scientific publications on the history of the town, the Kola Arctic and the Northern Fleet.
In 2022, the museum was
recognized as the best museum in the Murmansk Oblast.