Gulag-Museum, History museum in central Moscow, Russia
The Gulag Museum is a memorial institution dedicated to the Soviet camp system in central Moscow. The rooms are spread over several floors and show original items like metal doors, clothing, and everyday objects from people in the labor camps.
The historian and writer Anton Antonov-Ovseyenko founded this institution in the early 21st century to document the history of forced labor camps between the 1930s and 1950s. His father was among the people who died in one of these camps, which motivated him to create this project.
The building takes its name from the acronym for the Main Administration of Camps and uses many personal items like letters and photos from people who lived through those times. Visitors see not just display cases, but also reconstructed spaces that help them understand the conditions people faced.
The Dostoevskaya metro station is nearby and leads directly to the exhibition entrance. The building opens weekdays except Mondays from late morning until evening, with longer hours on Thursdays.
A large wall map shows the geographic spread of camps across the entire territory of the country. Some recovered items come from execution sites, where they lay buried in the ground for many years before being unearthed.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
