Adress: Aktobe, Altynsarin street, 14. Telephone: 8 (7132) 21-13-67, 8 (7132) 21-13-68
The Aktobe regional areal museum was founded in 1929 on the base of shcoll museum by the initiative of local scientists. Initially the museum employed only one person. The first director of the museum was D.Temushko. The museum moved to various premises for a very long time until the repaired building of the former hospital was given to in 1965. In May 1967 there held a festive opening ceremony of the museum with participation of D.A.Kunaev, First secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of KazSSR. The lobby of the museum is decorated with wooden items made in Scythian animal style – works of Boris Pak, the honoured artist of RK.
The area of the museum is 1550 square meters. The exposition is stored in eight halls. Total amount of the exponents is up to 90 thousand items. In the foundation of the museum there are valuable collection of mineralogy, paleontology, botanic, archeology, decorative arts, numismatics, rare books, archive documents and photo materials.
The exposition of the first hall is devoted to archeological, architectural monuments and unique works of decorative arts in the region. It represents the findings of the ancient times – scrapers, knives, pikes and other implements. The Sarmat culture was widely developed in the territory of the region on the 6th-5th centuries BC. The collection of the museum has got remarkable samples of golden decorations from the kurgans of “Besoba", “Syntas", “Nagornyi", bone spoons made in Scythian animal style. Here were found unique works of ethnic masters made in polychrome style with colorful insertions which were the highest stage of jewelry of ancient times. In the hall of the museum there are represented items of the grave of the Hun chief near the village of Zhilyanka and the river of Taldyk (bells, pots, a copper scoops, a belt etc.) such items from the grave of Oguz chief as a ring, a belt, horse bits and chalcedonic beads serve as witnesses ogf the medieval history.
The museum have also got a rich jewelry collection consisting of 29 jeweelry items. The items represented in this expositions – syhga, sholpy, orinzhiek, tuime, boitumar, aisyrga, konirau syrga, bilezik, kemer belbeu ets – demonstrate high esthetic choice and inimitable sign of the masters of Western Kazakhstan. A particular place in this exposition is devoted to the monuments of Northern Chink Ustiurt (Doniztau) where the tradition of buildings from burnt bricks was vividly demonstrated. The mockup of the mausoleum of Abat-Baitak (14th-15th) was also displayed here.
The exposition of the hall of the nature starts with fossil remainders of ancient animals once seized in stone layers. There is relics of indricotherium, giant mammal, first found in 1912 in the district of Irgiz. The indricotherion reaching 8 meters long habituated in forests once grew in this place. Moreover, the museum displays the horn of a giant deer found on the coast of the river of Ilek and the scull of a primitive bull, bones of mammoth. In the central diorama of the hall shows representatives of the modern fauna: wolves, saigaks, steep eagles, boars etc.
The hall “Duligali dala perzenti" tells about national liberatory movements and uprisings in the territory of the district, particular batyrs and commanders by the means of historical and archive documents. The hall keeps materials about such famous persons as Abulkhair khan (1693-1748), Aiteke Baibekuli, orator and byi of the Small zhuz and legendary Zhalantos batyr (1576-1656). Among the most valuable items are the chain armor of Yesset batyr and the bust of Makhambet Utemisov, poet and famous historical figure, made by anthropologist N.Shayakkhmetov in the Moscow laboratory of anthropology.
The period of Russian empire is reflected in the map of Khiva march, plans of fortresses taken from Orenburg and Moscow archives, views of the old Aktobe, items of citizens, copies of the sketches of fortresses made by T.G.Shevchenko, famous Ukrainian poet who visited this region with the expedition on studying the Aral sea.
The hall devoted to the events during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 tells about veterans and heroes of labour from natives of the region. 35 natives of aktobe region were honored with title “The Hero of the Soviet Union", 9 people were awarded with the Order of Glory of the 3rd ranks. Among them is A.Moldagulova, the Hero of the Soviet Union called the Daughter of East.
The interest of visitor is also attached the hall “Cosmos" that tell about cosmonauts from Aktobe region: V.I.Pavayev, Hero of the Soviet Union, and Y.Lonchakov, Hero of Russia. The mockups of in-orbit space station “Salut-6" and spaceship “Soiuz" constructed in the Moscow experimental laboratory are setup in the hall.
Within cultural and educational program the museum holds historical, literary and musical events, Nauriz. According to touristic routes excursions are organized in the city and the region. Since 1999 the Aktobe regional museum were included in the International Association “Open Museum" in Krasnoyarsk and since 2003 it beace a member of “IKOM Kazakhstan", Kazakh association of the Internation Council of museums.