Museum of the History and Reconstruction of Moscow

a museum founded in 1896 as the Museum of the Moscow Municipal Economy and known as the Moscow Communal Museum from 1920 to 1940, when it acquired its present name.

The museum’s exhibits trace the history of the city from earliest times, showing its layout, industry, culture, municipal economy, construction, socialist daily life, and plans for future development. The exhibits and archaeological holdings include a rich collection of paintings and works of graphic art (notably the famous series of pictures by A. M. Vasnetsov entitled Old Moscow) and gifts sent by the workers of the USSR and foreign countries to mark the capital’s 800th anniversary.

The museum’s research library has a valuable collection of books on the history of Moscow. The museum conducts archaeological excavations and historical expeditions, and it organizes traveling exhibits. In 1972 the museum and its branches (the Museum-House of V. M. Vasnetsov, the Museum-Apartment of A. M. Vasnetsov, and the A. N. Scriabin Museum) were visited by more than 150,000 persons.