The Derbent State Historical, Architectural and Archaeological Museum-Reserve () is a museum complex dedicated to the history of Derbent, the most ancient city in Russia. The territory of the museum reserve, together with the protected zones, is 2044 hectares, and it contains more than 250 (and according to some estimates, more than 400) historical and cultural monuments. The territory of the museum complex contains 25 monuments of federal significance, including the Naryn-Kala citadel. In 2003, it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The stone walls of the fortress were built in the 6th century. On the territory there are architectural monuments reflecting different periods of Derbent's development: the Khan's Chancellery (Commandant's House, Divan-Khan) of the 18th century, the Khan's Palace of the 18th century, the Guardhouse (1828) (which houses the art gallery "History of Derbent in Paintings"), rectangular and cross-shaped reservoirs (6th-18th centuries), a cross-domed church (4th-18th centuries), the Khan's Bathhouse (18th-18th centuries), an underground prison â zindan.
It is in the Armenian-Gregorian temple, an architectural monument of the 19th century, built in 1860 according to the design of Gabriel Sundukian. The museum exhibits authentic works of folk decorative and applied art. It was opened in 1982. In addition to carpets, the exhibition presents ceramic and metal products.
It was opened on October 12, 1988, in the house where the exiled writer and Decembrist A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky lived in 1830âÂÂ1834. The house is in the upper part of the city and is typical of Derbent architecture of the late 18th - early 19th centuries. It was bought for the museum back in 1941, but due to the outbreak of World War II, the museum was not opened then. The exhibition reflects the Derbent period of the writer's life and work. The house recreates the furnishings of that time, including the use of authentic items that served Bestuzhev.
It opened in 1991. In 2015, a complete re-exposition took place. The museum presents a permanent exhibition "Military Glory of Derbent Residents", as well as sections dedicated to the SovietâÂÂAfghan and ChechenâÂÂRussian wars.
It was founded in 1993. The museum presents the flora and fauna of Southern Dagestan, both the inhabitants of the land and the underwater world of the Caspian Sea, including endangered species.
It has been operating since 1992 in the building of the âÂÂMaiden BathhouseâÂÂ
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The museum collections contain 8,695 storage units, including 6,425 items in the main collection. The most valuable items include a collection of carpets and rugs (50 storage units), a collection of gold embroidery (10 units), a collection of numismatics and archaeological items (1,500 units), and a collection of copper-embossed tableware (50 units). In total, the collections contain seven museum collections:
History, culture, traditions and customs of the peoples of the Caspian region, valuable information about the history of the Caspian Sea, its fauna and flora through household items, ethnography, precious metal products, weapons, photographs, maps, atlases, banknotes, etc.
The numismatic collection contains coins of the 12th-14th centuries found in Derbent because of excavation work. They were minted in the city and belong to the Maliks of Derbent.
There are ceramic vessels of the 12th-14th centuries from Derbent burials, many copper-chased and wooden items produced by Dagestani masters of the 18th-19th centuries, items made of precious metals and precious stones, carpet products, ethnographic and household items dating from the 18th-20th centuries.