Despite the miniature size and young age, Genichesk has its own Museum of Local Lore, surprising tourists and experts with the variety and value of exhibits. This institution is located in a pre-revolutionary mansion on Petrovskogo Street. It was founded in 1959, so today it has gathered under its roof and is ready to show guests 7 thematic collections, for which 8 halls are allocated. This museum is considered to be the first and the only panopticon of local history in the eastern part of the Kherson region.
The most important hall in the museum is the one dedicated to the «Nature of the region». The thing is that the Genichesk neighborhood is a symbiosis of the last parts of virgin steppe, not plowed by enthusiastic Komsomol members during the USSR period, and the shore of the Azov Sea. In the body of the latter, right at the shore of Genichesk, there are Utlyutsky estuary, Lake Sivash and 2 spits — Arabatskaya Strelka and Biryuchy Island. This hall is adored by schoolchildren of younger grades because of 2 dioramas representing the flora and fauna of both spits. Here there are wormwood, tipchak and sagebrush, «grown» among the solonchaks.
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They «hide» stuffed animals of short-tailed skuas, silver martins, black-headed gulls and sea doves. On one of the dioramas a real wolf — Canis lupus, once abundant in the Kherson steppe, is «approaching» the birds.
And now let’s move to the next hall, dedicated to «Ancient History». Here are stored amazing exhibits — a Sarmatian stele and a pair of Scythian stone women. They were found in the vicinity of Genichesk and are «living witnesses» of the fact that the tribes that are considered to be the basis of the modern Ukrainian ethnos felt comfortable in the Azov region. Several shelves in this hall are dedicated to paleontology — bones of the southern elephant, and archeology — ancient ceramics. The exposition is supplemented by samples of weapons and coins left on the territory of modern Genichesk by the Crimean Khanate’s subjects.
In the «Ethnography» hall, guests will be shown samples of clothing and household items belonging to Ukrainians, Russians and Crimean Tatars, the main peoples who formed the population of this resort town. The next room «Friendship» contains gifts and souvenirs brought to Genichesk by the participants of festival «Tavrijskaja Rodina», which has been held annually in the town since 2005. The next two rooms are dedicated to «Military Glory» and «Outstanding People of the Azov Region». It is curious that the museum workers, who do not suffer from chauvinism, have placed here the stories and portraits not only of their fellow countrymen, but of many nationally known natives and figures of the Kherson region.
The last two exhibition halls do not have permanent expositions. Here you can see paintings on which artists have depicted the sights of the Azov region or photos devoted to people, fauna and flora of this luxurious region. Having come to holiday in Genichesk, you can visit the local Museum of Local Lore and see with your own eyes the richness and huge tourist potential of this land.