The Dedushytsky Palace (State Natural History Museum)

left; ">The State Natural History Museum of Lviv is located in the heart of the historical and cultural quarter of the city, on Teatralnaya Street .The museum's building is visible from afar - it is a grandiose mansion of the era of classicism, decorated with columns.

Townspeople rarely call the museum a real name, giving preference to the historical name - the Palace of the Didushitsky, on the surname of its founder. It was at the initiative of Vladimir Didushitsky - a famous biologist, ethnologist and archaeologist - in 1870, and a museum was opened.

Traveling, Count Didushitsky collected a lot of rare natural collections, which later became the basis of the permanent expositions of the museum. A very small number of nature museums can boast such a voluminous authentic museum fund. In the halls of the Lviv Museum there are more than 400 thousand exhibits, many of which belong to monuments of world importance.

One of such exhibits attracts tourists from all over the world. These are the only remains of a mammoth, found in the Ivano-Frankivsk region in the early 20th century. Due to the high salinity of the soils, the "Ukrainian mammoth" is perfectly preserved. Today it is the most valuable exhibit of the museum's zoological collection.

Having looked at the remains of ancient animals and plants, visitors to the museum can in a moment move to the 18th century, rising to the next floor with a mechanical elevator. This device appeared in the palace Didushitsky immediately after the completion of construction and is still in working order. The elevator is used exclusively by museum workers, but occasionally tourists can also go for a ride.