The Vepps ethnographic museum is the most fantastic place in Sheltozero. The founder and the keeper of its rich collection is Rurik Lonin, Sheltozerian specialist of local lore and the collector of Vepps folklore. He started his collection in the 60-ies. He asked his countrymen to look for different ancient articles and collected more than 300 wooden, iron and tissue objects. So the first exposition was opened in 1979 and in 1980 the museum became a branch of Karelian State museum of local lore.
The museum is in a traditional Vepps house, which was built in the middle of XIX century by merchant Melkin, whose descendants still live in the village. This is one of the biggest and most beautiful houses in the Vepps volost and it is also a monument of Karelian wooden architecture. Nowadays the funds of the museum consist of more than 6000 units of issue. These are articles that were collected in the Vepps villages of Karelia and in Leningadskaja and Vologodskaja regions.
One of the rooms of the museum is devoted to the trades, which the ancient Vepps went in for - fishing and hunting. Here one can see traps and fishing equipment: homemade hooks, fishing-lines and maps made on rind. There is also a loom and a cradle made of bast, which is attached to the ceiling. There is copper and earthenware crockery on the shelves. One can also see a working sarafan and a patchwork quilt. There are lots of documents and pictures in the museum. A famous ethnographer Maikov traveled around the Vepps villages in the late XX century and collected many interesting stories.
In the museum one can not only touch the pages of the history but also listen to the national Vepps songs in the performance of the national chorus and to taste traditional Vepps dishes.
Address: 26, Pochtovaya Str.
Phone: +7(8142) 53-91-50
E-mail: veps.museo@onego.ru
Office hours: daily 10.00 - 17.00 (Monday is a day off), break 13-00 - 14-00
