Discover Tambov: City History and Art

Discover Tambov through its cultural attractions: a historic square, several museums and art collections, and a pedestrian street each offer a distinct focus. You can tailor your city exploration to architecture, regional history, or art.

Historic Sites and Architecture

Sobornaya Square is considered the historic centre of Tambov; its origins date back to the construction of Tambov Fortress in 1636. The Aseev House was built in 1905 to a design by Moscow architect Lev Kekushev. The Aseev Estate Museum Complex offers general and themed tours. Visitors can see carefully reconstructed interiors of an early 20th-century Russian country estate and learn more about the period and the lifestyle of the M. V. Aseev family. Arrange your visit with the museum in advance.

The Chicherin House Museum opened in 1987. It is housed in a well-preserved former manor house, a large single-storey building. Antique furniture and a collection of personal belongings are on display; check the current exhibition before your visit. The Roman Catholic church in Tambov offers a different architectural style: it was built of red brick in the Gothic style.

Museums, Art, and the Tambov Arbat

The Tambov Regional Museum of Local Lore has more than 120,000 collection items. These include 17th- and 18th-century publications and documents, paintings and graphic art, decorative arts, weapons, and ethnographic, archaeological, scientific, and palaeontological collections. More specifically described holdings include Russian prints from the 18th and 19th centuries, a palaeontological collection of invertebrates and rocks, and decorative vases from the 18th and 19th centuries. Its subjects range from historical documents and art to natural history.

Significant sections of the Tambov Regional Art Gallery are devoted to Italian art from the 16th to the 19th century, as well as Dutch, Flemish, and Hollandish art from the 16th and 17th centuries. Those wishing to compare different periods and artistic traditions will find a different focus here than in the local history collections.

The Tambov Arbat is a pedestrian street. The Tambov Regional Museum and Exhibition Centre opened there in 2010. Its exhibitions explore the emergence and development of industry and the regional economy, as well as their contribution to victory in the Great Patriotic War. The monument “Tambov Treasury” was also erected on the Tambov Arbat in 2016. Work on developing the promenade zone along the Tsna embankment began in 2014.

Nature and Culture in the Wider Destination of Tambov Oblast

The Voroninsky Nature Reserve, established in 1994, is located in the wider destination of Tambov Oblast. It comprises two larger areas along the Vorona River and ten smaller areas in the valleys of its tributaries, protecting surviving forest-steppe ecosystems of central Russia. The reserve contains more than 150 oxbow lakes. Around 900 plant species grow there; 31 bird species are listed in the Red Book of Russia, and 42 plant species from the region are listed in the Red Book of the region.

The walking excursion “Zapovednye Tropinki” starts at the nature reserve and is listed as lasting 1.5 hours. Also in the wider destination of Tambov Oblast, the S. V. Rachmaninoff Ivanovka Museum-Reserve includes a manor house, an outbuilding, a park, a garden, flower beds, ponds, and park structures. Nikolai Lugansky, People's Artist of the Russian Federation, gives a traditional concert there every year in late August. Check the concert dates before travelling.

Choose a Holiday Apartment to Match Your Travel Interests

If you want historic squares, museums, and art to shape your stay, focus your holiday-apartment search on Tambov. This lets you first decide on the mix of city history, collections, and nature you want.

Discover More Destinations

Discover more destinations: Tulinovka, Rasskazovo, Michurinsk, Yaroslavka, Durovka, Bogoslovka, Chikhachevka, Rodionovka.

Return to the wider travel guide: Tambov Oblast.