Museum of Myths and Superstitions of the Russian People

One of the most popular museums, where lifelike wax figures of Baba Yaga , a vampire, ghoul, goblin, hobgoblin and many other characters from Russian folk tales, collected under one roof is found on a quiet Uglich street in an old wooden house. This Museum of Myths and Superstitions of the Russian People was set up by the Golunovs, wife and husband, who had moved to Uglich from St. Petersburg. Artists by education, Diana and Alexander Golunovs , dedicated their lives to studying Slavic mythology, and their passion resulted in establishing of one of the most extraordinary private exhibitions in the world. All the costumes for the waxen evils were sewn by Diana Golunova (also known under stage name Daria Chuzhaya) herself. Having taken ancient manuscripts and legends as a base, Diana and Alexander made images of mythical creatures with great love and zeal. The museum first opened its doors to the visitors on January 6, 2001 – on the Christmas night and since than every day the museum is always full.

In addition to all sorts of waxworks of evils, the exhibition includes scenes reproduced from such ancient rituals, as Christmas divination, a Russian ancient custom; on Christmas, Epiphany and Vasilevs nights it was customary to appeal to otherworldly forces in hope to learn their future. In addition, the museum has collected everyday objects connected with ancient traditions, charms and talismans. The interior design of each museum room follows the style of Russian log hut: there are huge chests, rockers, pots and baskets, boxes, bundles of aromatic herbs, spinning wheels and other antiques, carefully preserved over the years. The Museum of Myths and Superstitions has also a library which collected many books and articles on the subject for anyone to read.

The museum is always in semi-darkness that creates a special atmosphere: all the exhibits look almost like real, often making the visitors have chill all over the skin. However, the museum owners just smile to questions about whether or not there appear naughty evil spirits at night, and ensure that even their son can fearlessly stay with the waxworks. The purpose of the museum is not to frighten, but introduce into the interesting world of Slavic mythology, where ancient rites and beliefs, divination and epics, gods and shamans coexist peacefully. They say that you can get to the museum only by saying a joky password: “We are from friends and acquaintances”.

The Museum of Myths and Superstitions is open for individual visits from 12:00 AM to 04:00 PM every day except Monday. Prior booking is required for excursion groups.