• National museum named after Alexey Anokhin
• Ulalinskaya Paleolithic site

National museum named after Alexey Anokhin

The museum is founded in 1918. It is the oldest cultural institution of the Republic of Altai. In 2012 the museum was renovated by Gazprom means. The museum is located in a large three-storey building and includes several exhibition halls: nature department, art department, ancient history, contemporary history, ethnographic complex of the Ukok Plateau.

The true jewel of the museum collection is the exhibition of the Plateau Ukok and mummy of the famous "Altai Princess" woman from the 5th-3d century BC, found during excavations of the mound Ak-Alakha-3, representative of the Pazyryk culture. The exhibition features original highly artistic wooden ornaments and details of horse gear and weapons. Mummy of Altai Princess is resting in a sarcophagus in a special room of the museum, in accordance with professional and ethical standards, taking into account the interests and beliefs of the indigenous population of the Altai Republic (based on phases of the moon) there is a special schedule of exhibition the mummy (this information is better to request in the museum). The multimedia system, installed in the exhibition, provides viewing movies, photos, diagrams and other materials showing the historical reconstruction of the Scythian times, views of the plateau Ukok, archaeological sites, the process of excavation. The audio system reproduces the sounds of nature (wind, birds, animals, etc.).

The museum has a unique collection of early Altai ethnographers (father and son Gulyaevs). In the hall of the ancient history there is an exposition of the ancient Paleolithic humans and stone tools.

The most valuable and interesting exhibits are three writing monuments of Turkic peoples. They are quite unique and contain five runic inscriptions written in ancient Turkic language.

There is an exhibition hall devoted to old-believers from the Altai mountains and history of indigenous people.

There is a great collection of paintings by Altai artists of different periods from Grigory Choros-Gurkin to our contemporaries.

This is not a total list of the numerous collections of the National Museum.

Address: Gorno-Altaisk, Choros-Gurkin str, 46
Phone: +7 (38822) 4-77-73
Official website: www.musey-anohina.ru
Entrance fee: entrance ticket 250 rubles / person, guided tour 900 rubles per group up to 25 people, an audio guide 150 rubles / person.
Working hours in summer: Wednesday-Saturday 10:00-19:00, Sunday 10:00-18:00. Monday and Tuesday – days off.
Working hours in winter: Wednesday-Saturday 10:00-18:00, Sunday 10:00-17:00. Monday and Tuesday – days off.

Ulalinskaya Paleolithic site

Ulalinskaya Paleolithic site is one of the main sights in Gorno-Altaysk. It is situated on the bank of the Ulalushka River, after which the site took its name.

The site constantly attracts attention of archeologists. It was found during the excavations of 1960-1970s under the guidance of academician Alexey Okladnikov. Exactly that time more than 600 stone tools were found, referring to the age of Paleolith. It proves the fact that the territory was made habitable more than 1,5 million years ago. Although the views of geologists about this subject are still not common. Some experts determine the age of the site in the range of 100 - 350 thousand years; others indicate the date from 690 thousand to half a million years.

Unfortunately, only primitive tools, no other traces of sites of ancient people were found during excavations.

This sensational archeological find became the city’s pride. No wonder that exactly these tools are depicted in the coat of arms since 1996.

The debates over this discovery are conducted to this day - many scientists believe, it would a grand hoax of the 20th century.