The two-story Chamber of Representatives was built on the top of Sobornaya mountain in 1786. It housed the administrative bodies of the town government: the Town Council and the Public Bank. Now there is a Plessky Museum-reserve.
In the basement, among the stone arches of the building of the Chamber of Representatives, there is a permanent Museum exhibition "Ancient Ples and Ivanovo land". Temporary exhibitions are held on the first and second floor.
In the first halls of the Museum, you can see the finds of archaeological expeditions that conducted excavations on the ancient sites primitive people, as well as settlements of the early middle ages. This lands in the middle reaches of the Volga were settled in the Stone age. During the iron age, fortified settlements of Finno-Ugric tribes began to appear here. Here you can get acquainted with the history of the legendary town of Chuvil.
In 1410, Prince Ivan I of Moscow was forced to hide in Kostroma due to a sudden attack by the Horde troops of Khan Egidei. Basil I ordered to build a powerful fortress on the Sobornaya hill in Ples: "in the summer of 1410, the town of Pleso led to chop." This time is considered the Foundation of the town of Ples.
The bust of Vasily I, the founder of Ples, was installed in 1910 in front of the Chamber of Representatives building. After that, Ples became an Outpost for the protection of the river trade route, as well as a customs post on the Volga. The Volga was very convenient for the predatory campaigns of the Tatars from the Kazan khanate, so the fortress had a large garrison.
In the Museum you can see women`s jewelry of the 8th century, found in the famous Alabuga treasure. There are also cult stones (labyrinth and phallic), which were used in pagan rites.
