The permanent exhibition of the Kostroma State Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve is located in the former building of the Guardhouse, designed by the provincial architect Pyotr Ivanovich Fursov in 1823–1826. The guardhouse is decorated with a bas-relief dedicated to the Russian victory in the Patriotic War of 1812.
The permanent exhibition of the Kostroma Museum-Reserve is dedicated to the military history of the region and includes more than 2,000 exhibits. Walking through the halls, the visitor can travel through the pages of the military history of the Kostroma region from the 12th century to the beginning of the 21st century.
The exhibition hall “Rus and the Russian Empire” presents artifacts that provide an overview of the military history of the Kostroma region from the early 12th century to the First World War: military orders and medals, regimental banners, badges, authentic and reconstructed weapons, and uniforms.
Then the visitor is transported to the tragic period of the Russian Civil War, and the difficult time of the creation and formation of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army and the Soviet Army. The central place is occupied by objects that witnessed the Great Patriotic War — the hardest test that fell to the lot of the Soviet people.
The exhibition “From the Soviet Army to the Russian Army” explores the history of various branches of the armed forces and the participation of Kostroma residents in military operations and local conflicts of our time.
The hall of weapons is noteworthy: it displays firearms, edged weapons and defense weapons (including exotic ones) of various countries and eras.
