History of the region based on the materials of archeological excavations” is being opened on the lowest floor of the Church of the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple with the refectory. It is the first full exhibition representing archaeology of the Belozersk district in the Vologda Region. Materials of the monastery archeology are displayed for the first time in our region. More than 4000 archeological objects dating back to different chronological periods are represented there: from the Mesolithic period (9000 B.C.) till the late Middle Ages.

The monastery was founded in 1397 by the Moscow monk Kirill, a contemporary and a disciple of St. Sergey Radonezhsky. St. Kirill lived for 30 years on the shore of Lake Siverskoye and died in 1427 at the age of 90. He was canonized already in the 15th century. A chasuble, a fur-coat, a knitted cap, scoops with cases, a leather belt with a bag and a wooden staff belonging to him are not only unique exhibits but true sacred objects. A huge wooden cross which is more than 2 metres high has been made, according to the legend, by the founder of the monastery himself. Being an all-round and well-educated person and an experienced copyist he formed the basis of one of the richest monastery library. Manuscripts and printed books of the 17th-19th centuries decorated with embossed leather bindings, stamped and engraved covers are displayed in the exhibition.

At the end of the 20th – early 21st century considerable restoration work has been carried out in the Kirillo-Belozersky museum-reserve. Museumfication of the monuments is being realized at the same time. One of the most interesting architectural buildings of the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery is the Monks’ cells. In the process of its restoration architects and restorers managed to discover complicated structure of this dwelling house of the 17th-19th centuries.