10/06/08“The Small Country”. The Children's Center of Vladimir and Suzdal Museum-Reserve Celebrates its 15th Anniversary
 Time flies rapidly! It seems that very recently after coming back from New Orleans Alisa Aksenova, the Director-General of the museum-reserve told her associates about the miracle she had seen in America – the children’s museum. She was enraptured, and she envied a little: if only she could have such a museum in Vladimir! Pretty soon she was given a chance to make her cherished dream real – when in the 1990’s the Vladimir and Suzdal Museum-Reserve returned 16 church buildings (occupied by exhibitions and museum collections before) to the diocese. The museum was given a vast office building of the 18th century instead…
 This building (because of its specific planning) seemed entirely unfit for exhibitions and showrooms. Difficulties arose also with the moving out of 30 organizations. And nevertheless step by step, floor after the floor within the maximally short time – only in 5 years! – the museum staff repaired the enormous building and filled it with new life.
The holiday came to this boring bureaucratic building. The Children’s Museum Center was opened here. This was the first experiment in Russia. Youngsters run to the center after school. And here, during the museum “lessons” at “Old-Russian School”, while staying at “The Russian Home”, “At Great-Grandmother’s” (there are 10 exhibitions at the Children’s Center all in all) they learn the history of the native land, they are overwhelmed by the charm of Russian speech, they touch the sources of the traditions of our ancestors. And these lessons and excursions are more interesting and merrier than usual ones! It is not surprisingly that a group of authors from the Vladimir and Suzdal Museum-Reserve was awarded the President Prize in 1999 for the creation of the Children’s Museum Center.
On October 1, 2008 the Children’s Museum Center celebrated its 15th anniversary. Of course, it was impossible to invite all its friends, indeed, because their number is more than 500 thousand children and adults already. But during this day, undoubtedly, there were children who came to the Children’s Museum Center for the first time in order to become the full-fledged inhabitants of the museum “small country”. And the magic “music” could be heard here again – ringing infantile voices, merry laughter, the sound of the rapidly running small feet!
Happy birthday to you, the Children’s Museum Center!
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