A defining starting point for Lysva’s cultural history is the first season of the Lysva Drama Theater: it began on October 7, 1944, with the play “Vstrecha v temnote” by F. Knorre. The theater, its collection and the historic Great Pond offer different perspectives on the town—from the stage to the former functions of an ironworks.
Theater, Museum and Town History
The Museum of the Lysva Drama Theater preserves materials from various areas of theater work. The collection includes posters, programs, newspaper clippings, photographs and videos, artifacts, set and costume designs, set models, and theater costumes. The collection spans everything from program and press materials to designs and costumes. Guided tours are held regularly at the museum; check the current visiting arrangements before your visit.
The “Muzey kaski” exhibition at the Lysva Museum focuses on a different theme. It is dedicated to the contribution made by Lysva’s residents during the Great Patriotic War and displays helmets from the World Wars. In contrast to the theater museum’s collection, it focuses on wartime and labor contributions, while the theater museum focuses on stage and performance materials. Together, the two themes offer different ways of exploring Lysva’s history without merging them into a single narrative.
Pushkin Park also has its own historical story: it was founded in 1902 by Alexander Zanucci, chief forester of the Lysva Mining District and a forest scientist. The founder’s connection to forest science sets the park’s historical background apart from the town’s theater and industrial history. Both individuals and institutions and areas of work are therefore relevant to understanding the town.
The Great Pond of Lysva takes us back to an even earlier chapter. It was created on the Lysva River in the late 18th century to supply water to the ironworks. It was also the endpoint of the timber-rafting route to the works. The water supply and timber transport illustrate two different historical functions of the pond: it was part of the ironworks’ supply system and also marked the destination of a transport route. These details add Lysva’s industrial past to the picture of its theater and park.
More to Explore in the Wider Perm Region Destination
The wider Perm Region destination also offers nature and cultural experiences, each with its own focus. The Basgi Nature Reserve has two excursion routes: “K vershine Severnogo Basega” and “K Yuzhnomu Basegu.” The “K vershine Severnogo Basega” route is 11 km long, including the return journey; time on the route, including the guided tour and rest breaks, takes 5 to 8 hours. It starts at the checkpoint at the “Shchastlivy” ranger station and covers 3,700 meters on foot through taiga forest (the mountain forest zone), followed by about 300 meters across mountain meadows. The excursion season runs from June to October. Check the current arrangements with the nature reserve before planning your visit.
The visitor center at the Basgi Nature Reserve has a small museum exhibition about the wildlife and plant life of the Perm Region. It also regularly hosts environmental education discussions, lectures, quizzes and games featuring films or multimedia presentations about animals, plants, protected areas and Basgi. These offerings have a different focus from Lysva’s theater and town history: the visitor center centers on nature and protected areas.
Those interested in wooden architecture can also visit the Khokhlovka Open-Air Museum in the wider Perm Region destination. It opened to visitors in September 1980 and is the first open-air architectural and ethnographic museum of wooden architecture in the Urals. Exhibits include wooden churches and a bell tower that are more than 300 years old, an architectural complex of a saltworks, a tent-shaped windmill, and farmsteads belonging to the Komi-Permyaks and Russians dating from the late 19th to early 20th century. So, alongside the nature of Basgi, the Perm Region offers historic architectural styles and a variety of cultural themes.
Discover more destinations: Klyuchi, Pechmen', Gremjatschinsk, Polazna, Barda, Kudymkar, Chusovoy, Sokol.
See the wider travel guide: Perm Region.
