The Museum of the History of the Resort City of Sochi, founded in 1920, is one of the oldest cultural institutions in Sochi.
The museum was based on the collection of the Sochi branch of the Caucasian Mountain Club, which existed in the Sochi settlement from 1902 to 1917. The members of the club studied the flora and fauna of the Caucasian Riviera, archaeology and the life of the indigenous population. The club was headed by the famous engineer and local historian Vasily Konstantinovich Konstantinov, who built the road to Krasnaya Polyana and designed roads leading to the surrounding villages. The collection of the mountain club was kept in the house of his mother, Yekaterina Pavlovna Maykova. After Konstantinov and his mother died, the collection became state property. On July 9, 1920, the Sochi District Executive Committee decided to found a local history museum. The museum received its first visitors on February 15, 1921.
During the Great Patriotic War, the museum became an important social and political center. In the summer of 1942, when Sochi became a frontline city, the museum exhibits were evacuated deep into the mountains, some were even buried in caves. When the occupation was no longer a threat, the collection was brought back, and the museum was open once again. During the Great Patriotic War, it welcomed over 45,000 visitors.
