The Local History Museum of Kislovodsk was built on the site of the Kislovodsk fortress, founded in 1803. Only one wall and a tower, reconstructed in the middle of the 19th century, have survived from the old fortress. The Local History Museum of Kislovodsk was established in 1965 in the premises attached to the wall of the Kislovodsk fortress.
Tsar Alexander I was aware of the inevitability of the Caucasian war with the Highlanders (it began in 1817), as well as the need to develop resorts on mineral water springs. The main stronghold in these lands was the Pyatigorsk Fortress, built in 1783. In 1803, Tsar Alexander I signed a decree "On the recognition of the state significance of the Caucasian Mineral Waters and the need for their arrangement." In the same year, the construction of the Kislovodsk fortress began near the famous and most powerful Narzan water spring. Now the Narzan Gallery of Kislovodsk has been erected over this spring.
The first Kislovodsk fortress had an oval shape. It was protected by earthen ramparts and wooden fortifications. Almost immediately, vacationers began to come to the fortress for treated courses at the narzan spring. In 1820, General Ermolov fortified the fortress and built stone bastions. The city of Kislovodsk began to form around it.
In the middle of the 19th century, General Mikhail Vorontsov was appointed Governor-General of these lands. Under him, the stone fortifications of the Kislovodsk fortress reached their maximum size. To this day, only the Gothic gates, the tower and two buildings of the Kislovodsk fortress have survived from them. Other parts of the fortress were dismantled when the need for it disappeared. Mikhail Vorontsov ordered to bring seedlings of trees and plants from his Vorontsov Palace in the Crimea. He planted them along the riverbed of the Olkhovka River, laying the foundations of the famous Kislovodsk Resort Park.
In the Local History Museum of Kislovodsk, you can get acquainted with the history of the city and the entire region of Mineral Waters. There are 4 halls here. A small exhibition is dedicated to artifacts found during archaeological excavations in the vicinity of Kislovodsk. There is also an exhibition dedicated to the nature of the region. A separate hall is dedicated to the events of the 19th century, when the city turned from the fortress of the Azov-Mozdok line of defense into one of the most popular resorts in Russia. The fourth hall is dedicated to the events of the establishment of Soviet power in the region, as well as the WWII.
There is a Lapidary in the courtyard of the Kislovodsk Local History Museum. This is the collection of antique tombstones and sarcophagi. On the basis of their inscriptions and bas-reliefs, scientists study ancient culture. In the exposition of the most famous Kerch Lapidary, you can see hundreds of tombstones. The lapidary of the Kislovodsk Local History Museum is much more modest, but it also attracts tourists. Some people come to see the Lapidarium and do not even enter the museum, although this is wrong. The museum`s collection is of great interest.
