In this day and age, it is difficult to distinguish the city of Novgorod as a contemporary urban center from the city of Novgorod as a museum of more than 50 Old Russian architectural monuments. These treasures of Old Russian architecture are a familiar part of the modern city for local citizens. Visitors to Novgorod are impressed by the rich and fascinating history of the city's cathedrals, monasteries, convents and defenses. Here, you can touch the rugged walls of an old cathedral, see an ancient kind of paint known as "plinfa", and view original fresco paintings.

Novgorod as a key city never was under Tatar domination, so that ancient Russian traditions continued "pure" in Novgorod. Even Moscow was under Tatar control for a long time, as well as most of the Russia we visit today.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, Old Russian architecture has received much attention. Original appearances were restored. Architectural forms and monumental painting were recorded and measured. The years from 1920-1930 were especially full of these activities, as if in prediction of the irreplaceable losses that would occur during the Second World War. Restoration of these ruined monuments after the war would have been impossible without these earlier records.

The restorators were rewarded with a State Prize from the Russian government for their efforts to rebuild these historic monuments. In 1992, by the order of the sixteenth session of the UNESCO General Assembly, the architectural monuments under the care of the museum were included in the List of World Cultural Heritage