The National Museum of the Republic of Karelia is one of the oldest museum institutions of North-Western Russia. In 1871, the Governor of the region Grigory Grigorievich Grigoriev founded the Olonets Natural-Industrial and Historical-Ethnographic Museum at the local provincial statistical committee. Exhibitions were opened in the same building as today — on the Round (now Lenin) Square. The building with the residence of the Olonets governor and state offices was built in the last third of the 18th century by the architects of Vasily Bazhenov’s school.
The 24 halls of the permanent exhibition house archaeological finds, samples of rocks, exhibits from the ethnographic collection, ancient engravings, sculptures, household items, rare handwritten maps and so on.
The 24 halls of the permanent exhibition house archaeological finds, samples of rocks, exhibits from the ethnographic collection, ancient engravings, sculptures, household items, rare handwritten maps and so on.
