Information about the State Reserve museum

State Sholokhov Reserve museum is situated in the North of the Rostov Region.

The museum possesses 16 historical and cultural monuments.
Average annual attendance - 45000 people.
The museum collection contains - 60000 exhibits.
Always functioning displays and exhibitions -10.
Space, occupied by the displays and exhibitions -1524 square m.
Number of excursions held annually - more than 2000.
There are 5 natural and 265 archaeological monuments on the territory of the museum.

The restricted museum landscape area - approximately 40000 hectares, landscape reserve area - 3820 hectares.
Distance from Veshenskaya stanitsa to Rostov-on-Don - 364 km.

The State M.A. Sholokhov Reserve Museum was founded in 1984, this is the only Russian museum of this great writer of the XX century, the one who was awarded with the Golden Star of the Hero of the Socialist Labour twice and a won a lot of prizes including the Nobel Prize.

The uniqueness of the museum is manifested in preservation of all the sights connected with the life of the writer. The museum exhibits are all original, they belonged to the writer and his family. The museum displays practically all the most precious belongings of M.A. Sholokhov.

The State M.A. Sholokhov Reserve-Museum comprises 4 memorial houses, where the writer used to work over his creations and live in different years.
Except the literature the museum has also another bias. For his whole life M.A. Sholokhov lived among Don Cossacks, he wrote about them and treated the Cossack's culture and traditions very carefully. That's why it's impossible to tell about the writer without mentioning the unique Donland.

The subject of Cossack culture, mode of life, labour and military service determines the museum's scientific research work, its funds and exhibitions.
The nature of the Upper Don is depicted in M.A. Sholokhov's works and even now you can still recognize its memorable places. The sanctuary territory of the museum covers 300000 hectares of ecologically clean landscapes.

The museum's most precious exhibits are M.A. Sholokhov's   manuscripts and library, belongings of the writer and his family, the writer's books edited in several languages, the collection of original illustrations to his books, his first editions. Besides it comprises a big collection of papers, connected with the history of the Don Cossacks (end of the XIX - beginning of the XX), which are also interesting to visitors.