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RussiaWhat to Expect and Is It Worth Visiting
The museum "Culture and life of ancient Derbent" is located in the building of the former "Maiden bathhouse" of the XIII century or Wedding bathhouse. It can be visited while walking through the historical part of the Old Town and visiting Juma mosques.
The baths were intended exclusively for unmarried girls. Within these walls, a rite of purification of the girl was held before the wedding, the so-called bachelorette party, hence the second name of the baths - Wedding. The bathhouse consists of 3 halls where the bathers spent their time. In the first hall, the girls were changing clothes. There were two exits from it, one to a small hall intended only for bathing the bride, the second to a hot hall where other women bathed. In addition, medical procedures were carried out in the bathhouse under the supervision of a bath attendant.
Stone pools, hot and cold water tanks are also well preserved. Women's traditional costumes, household items that were used while taking baths are clearly presented.
The bathhouse was actively used from the XIX to the middle of the XX century. It was possible to go from the "Girls' bathhouse" via the internal passage to the women's bathhouse (east), but since 1991, due to repairs, the passage to it has been closed.
Visiting the museum is possible on your own, but it is more interesting to do it with a guided tour, which can be purchased with a ticket. The guide's story will acquaint you with the architecture of the building, the purpose of the premises, traditions and the meaning of bath rituals. On the walls of the museum there are information signs with a description of the exhibits, on which you can get additional information. In general, the museum is small, but, in our opinion, it is worth a visit while walking around the old district. The visit will take 15-20 minutes.
🌐 Website: derbentmuseum.ru
🕐 Working hours
Daily, from 09:00 to 18:00, seven days a week.
💵 Entrance fee / ticket price
Adults – 150 rubles, children from 7 to 16 years – 100 rubles, children under 7 years – free of charge, excursions from 150 rubles / person. The Pushkin card is valid. For children under the age of 18 – free admission on the first and last Sunday of the month, for students – the first Thursday of the month. For all categories, free admission is on May 18 (International Museum Day), June 1 (International Children's Day), September 15 (Day of Unity of the Peoples of Dagestan).
🚶 How to get there
The museum is located in the old town of Derbent on Magal-7 str., 7/ Orta-Kapy str., 16 (museum on the map). It is better to go here by taxi or public transport. For personal transport, you are unlikely to find a parking space here, since the streets here are very narrow and winding. To order a taxi, it is convenient to specify the Juma Mosque as the destination point, from it to the museum is only a couple of minutes on foot along the alley. On city minibuses #11 and No.6 you can get to the stops "Orta-kapy" or "Kyrkhlar-kapy" for 27 rubles, and then a few minutes on foot.
💥 We remind you that it is much more interesting to get acquainted with the sights of Makhachkala with the help of excursions, and therefore we advise you to look at online booking options on these proven search and price comparison sites: