A fragment of the Chelyabinsk meteorite weighing more than 600 kilograms is on display at the State Historical Museum of the Southern Urals. Together with Kirovka pedestrian street, historic memorial sites and the lakeside promenade at Lake Smolino, Chelyabinsk offers a range of highlights for your days of discovery.
Regional History at the Museum
The permanent exhibition on the regional history of the State Historical Museum of the Southern Urals is spread across three halls. The meteorite fragment stands beneath a glass dome in the centre of the first hall, which is devoted to nature and ancient history. It is a striking focal point within the exhibition.
Other displays combine original exhibits with reconstructed settings: visitors can see a peasant’s room, a model of Chelyabinsk’s first fortress and the interior of a merchant’s salon. There is also a working model of an 18th-century blast furnace and a Ural fair. Nature, the city’s early history and scenes of everyday life are presented side by side, rather than focusing on just one period.
The mosaic “Conquest of Space” offers another large-scale historical theme. Vladimir Mishin’s 252-square-metre work was unveiled in spring 1976 and depicts Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Sergei Korolev and Yuri Gagarin. If you are interested in space exploration as well as regional history, it offers another specific point of interest.
Kirovka and Historic Sites
Kirovka is a pedestrian zone on central Kirov Street. At the entrance from Revolution Square stands the “City Gate” arch, bearing Chelyabinsk’s coat of arms. It provides a distinctive starting point for a walk along the pedestrian zone, whose character is defined here by its car-free status and the named city entrance.
At the beginning of Glory Boulevard, a monument commemorates the volunteer tank crews. It was erected in 1975 at the site from which soldiers of the Ural Volunteer Tank Corps set off for the front on 9 May 1943. An Eternal Flame, lit on 9 May 1965, also burns on the boulevard. Granite steles list the recipients of all three classes of the Order of Glory and the Heroes of the Soviet Union born in Chelyabinsk or Chelyabinsk Oblast.
Pokrovsky House, also known as the House of the Public Assembly, was built in the 1850s and was one of just seven stone houses in the city at the time. It houses the exhibition “The History of Merchant Life in the Urals”; check its current availability before visiting. The history of the State Puppet Theatre is linked to another building: actors Pavel and Nina Garyanov founded the theatre after arriving in Chelyabinsk in the early 1930s. Since 1972, it has been located in a restored building at 8 Kirova Street.
Outdoor Destinations and the Lakeshore
Victory Garden Park displays military equipment from the Second World War, modern armoured vehicles, missiles and warships in the open air. This makes it quite different from the museum galleries and historic houses: the focus here is on the vehicles and equipment on display.
The six-kilometre children’s railway runs through Gagarin Central Park of Culture and Recreation. It has five stations: “Star”, Pavlik Morozov Station, “Water”, “Forest” and “Sun”, as well as the “Zoo” platform. The railway operates seasonally, so check the timetable before visiting. Lake Smolino in the Leninsky District has a developed lakeside promenade, offering a different kind of highlight alongside exhibitions and city history.
Where to Focus Your Accommodation Search
When looking for a holiday apartment, first decide which themes will shape your visits: the museum and city history, Kirovka and its memorial sites, or outdoor destinations and the lakeshore. Then check which location suits the stops you have chosen.
Discover more destinations: Asha, Lazurnyy, Varna, Gubernskoye, Karabash, Karagayskiy, Uvil'dy, Turgoyak.
Return to the main travel overview: Chelyabinsk Oblast.
