A hidden gem on the Volga not to be missed! A fantastic museum for young and old. Guides speak excellent English and Russian and the displays are authentic, historic, detailed and pay great tribute to the past. I spent a fantastic couple of hours in the museum and left in a completely different state of mind than when I came in. A must-see. Excerpt from our full review on Evolvera: ‘’That’s the great thing about a tractor. You can’t really hear the phone ring’’ – Jeff Foxworthy Human beings tend to take things for granted and it’s only until we completely lose something that we understand its value. Now, tractors are still with us and can be seen on farms across the world, but as technology continues its fast-paced development and distracts us with its new phones, tablets and screens, they start to feel somewhat distant. If we take a second to redirect our gaze further away from the hustle and bustle of the cities, these large, modest vehicles continue to carry out their various tasks of ploughing, tillage and hauling. We haven’t lost them yet and they continue to appear in debates about their future usage and the various headlines appearing in the news about tractors becoming driverless within the next decade. Fading away is easy in this day and age, but there are some that choose to pay tribute and respect the history and legacy of the past and hold on to it dearly – one of them is the Cheboksary Scientific Museum of the History of the Tractor in Russia which is the only museum in the country that dedicates itself to tractors. It’s safe to say I arrived in one state of mind and left in another. If you’re taking a trip to any of the cities on the Volga River in Russia, visiting the city of Cheboksary in the Chuvash Republic is a must. I was fortunate enough to find it on the crossroads of my journey in the region and have understood that you need to put some time in if you really want to come to grips with its staggering beauty. The museum itself is less than five minutes from the city centre and can easily be reached by taxi or bus. I was lucky enough to have a guide that showed me around the city itself, so it was no problem getting there. ✧ Upon my arrival to the museum, one of the first things I noticed was an enormous yellow behemoth that looked like a gatekeeper of sorts watching over the building with some smaller ‘’protectors’’ on the side. As I learned later on, it was a historical model that continues its legacy across Russia and ex-USSR countries with its even more up-to-date versions. It was symbolic in a way that it would dictate the priority in the museum respecting the past more than contemporary versions. The image on the left does not do the actual size any justice as it seemed significantly larger in person which is yet another reason why you need to visit. Asking the guide: ‘’This must be one of the largest tractors, right?’’, he responded with a firm no, and went on to explain that there are models that are almost three times its size (!). I had heard a lot about the museum before coming and about the numerous high-profile, international visitors paying a visit to see the rare exhibits in the only museum dedicated to tractors in Russia. From Swedish contingents to visitors from the US, they were all interested to see what’s on display. The principal founder of the museum, Mikhail Bolotin, had the idea of solidifying a legacy of tractors, a field that has been of paramount importance in the family and through the connections in the field across the world, it has allowed for the torch to be passed on to the next generations.

The English translations are surprisingly on point, and the staff are really keen if you're obviously foreign. It's a tractor museum, so if you're not interested in tractors, don't bother, but if you have even a passing interest this place is well worth a visit. The exposition on the history of the tractor is mainly in Russian, but it's fairly simple so if you've got any Russian you'll manage fine. The main event is the hall of tractors, where you can sit behind the wheel of a Stalinets, a Vladmirets, or even a Porsche. Definitely the nicest, best laid out and best described museum in Chuvashia.