Museum of the Seto people

The nationality is distinguished by its own original culture: national clothes, a special dialect of the Estonian language, Orthodox customs, rituals, and holidays.

The main occupation of the Seto is agriculture, its culture determines the patriarchal way of life. They have always grown flax, crops, kept livestock. Weaving, spinning, and flax processing played an important role in the Seto household. Their economy was largely subsistence. The Pskov-Caves Monastery played a significant role in the history of the people.

The 16th century for the people Seto became the century of conversion to Christianity, which, according to folk legends, was associated with the testimony of the Pechora missionaries, in particular with the venerable martyr Cornelius. Nevertheless, the original Orthodox traditions were tightly intertwined in the Seto culture with pagan rites. This has found a vivid expression in everyday life, in folklore. Representatives of the Setos to this day recall the rituals dedicated to the god of fertility, Peko.

Some of the traditions are still alive today. So in Malakh, on the day of St. Onuphrius, who, according to legend, saves the peasants from hail in the summer, representatives of the nationality arrange a big holiday. Kirmash, as the Seto people call the festivities, becomes the logical conclusion of all church holidays.

The Seto Museum is located in a real estate of the Külaots family. Many exhibits have not yet forgotten the warmth of the master's hands. The collections exhibited in the museum are the fruits of many years of painstaking research and collection work.

Having gone on an excursion to the museum complex, which consists of the estate-museum itself, as well as a private collection of representatives of the Seto people who left these lands, one can feel the unity of man with nature with his soul. To be imbued with the originality of the Setos culture, to understand all the complexities and subtleties of the process of the historical development of the people who lived in the border lands.

The creators of the museum have preserved all the details of the life of the once mighty tribe. Here you will get acquainted with national clothes, household utensils, household items. The highlight of the composition is dolls that accurately convey the emotions of local residents who lived here at one time.

The doors of the museum are hospitably open to meet all those interested in the history of the Seto people, so you can get here at any time. The hospitable employees will tell you about the peculiarities of the life of the people in these places, give you aromatic tea infused with herbs, and feed you delicious hot pies.