Orsha Ethnographic Museum "Mill"

Orsha Ethnographic Museum "Mill" is housed in the building of the old water mill, which was built in 1902 at the expense of the city government on an artificially created channel that connects the Orshitsa and Dnieper rivers. Orsha mill is a monument of industrial architecture. It is necessary to note, that the town's mill was one of the biggest not only in the Orsha district, but also in the whole Mogilev province, which included Orsha at the beginning of the 20th century.

In 1991 the reconstruction of the building started as a part of the program "Renascence". Restoration of the architectural monument was successfully completed by the end of 1994. On June 23, 1995 the Orsha ethnographic museum "The Mill" was opened in the building. By the decision of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus № 578 of May 14, 2007 the museum building "Mill" was given the status of historical and cultural value category "2", which is included in the State List of Historical and Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Belarus. The mill has preserved the features of the industrial architecture of the early 20th century to the present day.

The museum is located on three floors and has two halls of the main exposition. The first part of the exposition, called "Our daily bread" presents exhibits that were previously used by farmers in the sowing and reaping. There are also everyday things that can tell you about the everyday life of the Belarusian peasantry: barrels, samples of goods that peasants used to take to the market. Here you can also get acquainted with the layout of the peasant house, which is accompanied by a description of the internal layout of the building.

The second part of the exhibition — "Light of Soul and Talent" is located on the second floor. Here visitors will get acquainted with the handicrafts of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as well as objects that represent the spiritual culture. The exhibition includes a huge number of embroidered towels that amaze with their patterns and colors. Of great historical value is a collection of traditional national women's costumes that the Belarusian peasant women wore on weekdays during the holidays. Among the products of modern craftsmen we should mention the handmade icons made by Orsha artist V. Yankovskaya.

In the lower part of the building there is a separate room for temporary exhibitions.