The Mariupol Local Lore Museum was demolished by Russian invaders

The Mariupol Museum of Local Lore caught fire caused by the Russian army’s incessant shelling. The museum building was erected during World War I, supposedly on the project by city architect Victor Nielsen. Primarily, the plan was to build a residential facility for disabled soldiers where they could live and learn different specialties and thus adapt to civilian life. The initiative ceased to exist because of the lack of funding.

Nevertheless, in 1920, the Mariupol Museum of Local Lore was established here, and it is now the Donetsk region’s oldest museum. The facility contained seven exhibition halls and a scientific library with 17,000 books. The museum’s collection included about 53 thousand exhibits.