Please note that the museum is currently closed to visitors until further notice

M. F. Sumtsov Kharkiv Historical Museum

M. F. Sumtsov Kharkiv Historical Museum* is one of the largest museums in Ukraine.

It holds more than 300 thousands of museum objects of national and worldwide significance representing history and culture of Ukraine and ethnicities living here.

Museum pays special attention to researching of the historical ukrainian province Sloboda Ukraine (Slobozhanshchyna).

Museum exhibitions cover a wide range of historical periods, from the Stone Age (archaeological part of the main exhibition) to modernity.

*The public institution “M. F. Sumtsov Kharkiv Historical Museum” of the Kharkiv regional council

How to get

UKRAINE
61003, Kharkiv, Universytetska str. 5

Please note that the entrance to the museum is on the west side of the building (Universytetska street).

There are 2 Metro stations near the museum: Istorychnyi Muzei and Maidan Konstytutsii.

There is a paid parking near the museum on the Universytetska street.

Open hours

Open hours are 09:30 - 17:00

The ticket office is open until 16:45

The museum is open everyday except mondays.

The museum may be closed on the national holidays.

Prices

Tickets

The museum has large main exhibition (ground floor) and some smaller thematic exhibitions (2nd, 3rd floors).

Main exhibition

This is the largest exhibition of our museum, devoted to the history of Ukraine and Kharkiv region. It is located on the ground floor.

A ticket for the main museum exhibition costs:

40 UAH (for adults)
30 UAH (for students, children and teens under 18)

Thematic exhibitions

Also the museum has some smaller thematic/temporary exhibitions. A ticket for such exhibition costs:

15 UAH (for adults)
10 UAH (for students, children and teens under 18)

Guided tours

You can purchase a tour with a guide.

A tour for the whole main exhibition (ground floor) costs 180UAH.

A tour for one of the thematic exhibitions costs 70UAH.

The tours are only in Ukrainian/Russian languages. The number of visitors for a guided tour is from 1 to 20 (maximum).

Free entrance

The entrance to all exhibitions is free for ICOM members and for children under 6 years.

The museum usually provides free access to all exhibitions on the International Museum Day.

Taking pictures or video

Please do not use flash when taking pictures in museum exhibition. This can damage some museum exhibits. Making photos and videos is free in the museum until you use professional photo\video equipment. Using tripod or aditional light equipment can be considered as professional photo\video shoting. In this case you have to get permission from museum personnel and pay for such photo\video shoting.

Exhibitions

1st floor - Main exhibition 'Slobozhany'

This is the largest exhibition of our museum, devoted to the history of Ukraine and Kharkiv region.

2nd floor

Second world war exhibition in Kharkiv Historical Museum

World War ІІ (Велич подвигу народного. 1939–1945)
Kharkivites on the fronts of World War I (1914-1918) (Харків’яни на фронтах I світової війни (1914-1918)) free

3rd floor

Soviet epoch exhibition in Kharkiv Historical Museum

The museum collection highlights (Калейдоскоп музейних скарбів у вимірі часу)
The history of the historical museum (Традиції та просвітництво)
Kharkiv in Soviet time 1943–1991 (Від відбудови до перебудови. 1943–1991)
Russian military intervention in Ukraine (Двічі присягу не дають (хроніки подій на сході))

Collection highlights

More than 300,000 objects of the museum permanent collection are divided into holding groups: archaeology, weapon, fine arts, numismatics, documents, photos etc.

Archaeological collection contains items uncovered during the museum's own archeological excavations, carried out since 1931.

The count of pieces of archaeological collection is about 55,000. They represents mostly cultures of Scythians and Khazars.

Kharkiv Historical Museum holds unique national ukrainian relic: flag of Hetman Mazepa (leader of the Cossacks State, 17ct.)

History of the museum

The museum was founded in January 21, 1920. It got the best collections from Kharkiv University Museum and the city Art and Industry Museum.

The collection of Kharkiv University Museum started to accumulate in 1804. Its objects were used for students teaching. This collection was one of the first museum collections in Ukraine.

The city Art and Industry Museum was founded in 1886. Its ethnographic collection was one of the largest and best among all city museums in Russian Empire.

In 1902 the nationwide Archaeological Congress was held in Kharkov. A huge previous search work was conducted. There were collected a large number of valuable objects of history, ethnography, art that revealed history and culture of inhabitants of the region. For participants of the Congress the exhibitions were created to demonstrate these objects. Later the most of objects has became a part of the collection of M.F. Sumtsov Kharkiv Historical Museum.

Also Museum got many unique objects of religious cult. These objects were requisitioned in 1920s - 1930s in religious organizations during the Bolshevik anti-religious policies. Many unique objects were saved because the Museum has received them.

At the time Kharkiv was the capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic. Therefore capital museum got not only local history artefacts but objects from the whole country. A team of highly qualified scientists worked on study and completion of collections. One of the scientists was Member of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences Mykola Fedorovych Sumtsov. Since the end of the 19th century he was one of the leading ukrainian ethnographers, historians and museology expert. M.F. Sumtsov was the founder and first director of the Kharkiv Historical Museum.