by Lyudmila BUDAEVA, Deputy Director of the Federal State Cultural Institution "Tula State Museum of Arms" The State Museum of Arms, which has become a visiting card of the city, is housed in an ancient building in the territory of the Tula Kremlin, a monument of 16th century architecture. Many of its 8,000 exhibits, which are kept in its reserves and displayed in the halls, represent development stages of national science and technology, and testify to the talent of outstanding Russian masters. The first in Russia state arms factory was founded in Tula by Peter the Great in 1712. That is how the foundation of the powerful military industrial cen-ter of the country was laid. From 1724 on samples of arms interesting in terms of design engineering were being col-lected there, following the emperor's order "...not to recast or damage ancient guns and flint-lock rifles, but to hand them over as curiosities to armories for storage". So, this is the beginning of the history of our museum. HISTORY OF THE COLLECTION On July 23, 1757, General Feldzeugmeister Count Shuvalov ordered the Tula Arms Office "to keep curious items in proper order and clean in armories and to describe in detail their quantity and names, their price and specific features... and send me the list". In December 1775, Catherine the Great ordered to set up a Chamber of Rare and Model Arms at the fac- стр. 91 tory. According to researchers Academician Iosif Gamel (1788-1862) and engineer Sergei Zybin (1862-1942), samples of ancient national and foreign arms, military equipment and captured standards of the Petrine time were kept in its arsenal, workshops and offices. For almost hundred years since the establishment of the Chamber, the factory survived ups and downs, namely, it accomplished a great labor feat in the Patriotic War of 1812, was burnt down during an absurd fire in 1834, but the collection survived and is constant-ly replenished. In ... Читать далее