Khokhlovka

The outdoor museum of Khokhlovka, founded in 1971, is one of those special journeys back into time that have been preserved through the careful effort of architects, preservationists, and scholars, with the help of the Ministry of Culture. The park is located less than an hour’s drive north of Perm, on a picturesque, hilly site leading down to the west bank of the Kama River Reservoir. Even before the park itself, the original village of Khokhlovka is a remarkable thing, well worth a closer view.

The museum consists of log buildings brought from various parts of Perm Province, including two churches and a bell tower, log houses (two of which have restored interiors), barns, a village fire station, a windmill with interior intact, and related buildings.

Perhaps the most interesting display is a unique ensemble of buildings brought from Solikamsk, where they were used as recently as the 1950s as part of the salt refinery. By following the path between these massive log buildings (constructed in the 1880s) from wellhead to brine pumping station, to refinery barn to the shipping warehouse on the edge of the river, one can see the entire salt extraction and refining process, explained through captions and archival photographs. For those interested in industrial heritage architecture, this is the place. Despite a lack of funds to expand the museum displays and to repair some of the most important buildings, the park continues to receive many visitors, including school groups. Anyone who comes here will find the visit a humane and rewarding insight into the folk culture of the Kama region.