Collections

Museum Collections

Since its establishment, thanks to the continuous research and collecting efforts of several generations of scholars, the Tivodar Lehoczky Transcarpathian Regional Museum of Local Lore of the Transcarpathian Regional Council has acquired tens of thousands of valuable artifacts.

Today, the museum’s collection comprises approximately 150,000 items. The objects in the museum’s main collection are organized into 13 collection groups.

Among its most valuable holdings is one of the largest collections of Bronze Age artifacts in Ukraine. Other collections of outstanding scholarly significance include numerous archaeological and historical objects related to the ancient past of Transcarpathia, particularly from the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic periods, as well as Slavic archaeological heritage.

The museum’s numismatic collection consists of more than 12,000 items, including Roman coins as well as historical Austrian, Hungarian, Polish, Czech, Ukrainian, Russian, and other currencies.

Particular attention should be paid to the museum’s extensive collection of edged and firearms weapons dating from the 14th to the early 20th century.

The museum also preserves a remarkable collection of rare books from the 14th–17th centuries, including the Royal Gospel (1401), the Slavic early printed edition “Ruthenian Bible” (1519) by Francysk Skaryna, the Ostroh Bible (1581) printed by Ivan Fedorov, and Pamva Berynda’s “Lexicon Slaveno-Ruthenian” (1627). The collection further includes a large number of early printed books from the 17th and 18th centuries and valuable periodicals dating from the mid-19th century to the 1940s.

Among the museum’s treasures are also collections of artistic and household cast-iron works produced by the former iron foundries of Fridyeshovo, Dovhe, Kobyletska Poliana, and Turia Remeta; original products of regional craft guilds from the 15th–18th centuries; unique collections of folk musical instruments, traditional clothing, and embroideries of Transcarpathia dating from the 19th to the first half of the 20th century; as well as original historical artifacts connected with pivotal periods in the region’s history, including 1918–1919, 1938–1939, 1944–1945, 1989–1991, and subsequent years.

Many valuable natural history specimens are preserved in the museum’s collections and displayed in its natural history exhibitions. These include a fossilized tuna skeleton approximately 36 million years old, fossil remains of sea urchins and mollusks, as well as bones and teeth of the mammoth, cave bear, giant deer, and European bison. The museum also houses one of the largest collections of taxidermied birds and mammals in Ukraine, together with extensive herbarium collections and other natural history materials.

The museum’s scientific library contains more than 25,000 volumes devoted to scholarly research and regional studies, making it an important resource for researchers, students, and anyone interested in the history, culture, and natural heritage of Transcarpathia.