If you choose Tersky District for a trip, you can plan around three themes: the history of the Tersky Pomors, the Kanozero petroglyphs, and a variety of landscapes. Umba has museums with distinct areas of focus; the museum reserve also offers a trip to Kanozero and a 5.5-kilometre excursion hike. The offerings therefore differ not only in subject, but also in format: an exhibition, an open-air complex, or an excursion.
Landscape and Nature Conservation
In the wider regional area, the Varzugsky Nature Reserve extends across the Tersky and Lovozersky districts. It was established to protect rivers, riverbanks, forests, European freshwater pearl mussels, and Atlantic salmon. Its area includes the Kitsa, Varzuga, Yuziya, Pana, and Indel rivers, as well as Lake Kizskoye. The reserve thus represents a landscape shaped by waterways, riverbanks, and forests, as well as by its conservation purpose.
The Kuzomen Sands illustrate a different aspect of the landscape: an anthropogenic sandy wasteland showing the beginnings of regrowth. Taken together, these two themes point to different ways of looking at the landscape: the protection of river, riverbank, and forest habitats on the one hand, and a sandscape shaped by human activity on the other.
Pomor History and Museums in Umba
The Museum of the History, Culture, and Everyday Life of the Tersky Pomors in Umba displays numerous authentic objects from the Pomor past, as well as evidence of Pomor culture. Its exhibition covers the occupations of the Tersky Pomors from the 18th to the early 20th century. These include fishing, hunting marine mammals, shipbuilding, and pearl harvesting. Other exhibition topics include carpentry and joinery, woodworking, shoemaking, as well as women’s crafts and needlework. In Umba, within the broader travel destination of Murmansk Oblast, Pomor history can thus be explored through objects, occupations, and crafts.
The Amethyst Museum in Umba offers a different thematic focus. It displays the Mys Korabl deposit, natural and synthetic quartz varieties, and amethysts from deposits in Russia and around the world. Its focus is clearly distinct from that of the Pomor museum: here, minerals and deposits are at the centre, while the other museum focuses on cultural history, everyday life, and crafts.
Another historical and ethnographic site is Tonya Tetrina, a restored open-air complex devoted to history and ethnography. The site is documented in historical records from the 15th century. Its open-air format complements the exhibition themes with another way of presenting history. Check the current access arrangements for Tonya Tetrina and the museums’ opening arrangements before visiting.
Kanozero Petroglyphs and Trails
The Kanozero petroglyphs are an archaeological monument dating from the 4th to the 2nd millennium BC and a cultural heritage site of federal significance. The exhibition hall of the Kanozero Petroglyphs Museum Reserve in Umba covers the discovery of the rock art and its study. This provides two distinct ways to explore the subject: the exhibition in Umba and the rock art complex on the islands of Kanozero.
The museum reserve offers a trip to Kanozero to see the unique rock art complex on the lake’s islands. Check the current arrangements with the operator before travelling. The museum reserve also offers the 5.5-kilometre excursion trail “A Walk along the ‘Old Pomor Village of Umba’ Ecological and Local History Trail.” Check the current arrangements for this excursion as well.
Choosing Accommodation
When looking for a holiday apartment, it helps to decide first what you want your stay to focus on: exhibitions and collections, open-air history, the excursion to Kanozero, or the landscapes. Then check the current visiting and excursion arrangements for the places you plan to include.
Discover more destinations: Murmansk, Tersky District, Severomorsk, Monchegorsk, Olenegorsk, Kirovsk, Kola District, Kandalaksha.
Back to the regional travel overview: Murmansk Oblast.
