May 6 The eleventh branch of the National Museum of Lithuania officially opens its doors in Vilnius - House of stories - and his first exhibition "What the sarcophagus hides". In this exhibition, visitors will have a unique opportunity to see all mummies and sarcophagi stored in Lithuanian museums under one roof.
This informative and experiential exhibition reveals the research of ancient Egyptian mummies of the last almost 200 years and the participation of Lithuanians in them. The authors of the exhibition present how the concept of mummy research and their results changed, from the idea of collecting in the XNUMXth century, the first scientific expeditions in the XNUMXth century, to now - when thousands of years old secrets are explained with modern technologies.
Ancient Egyptian mummies are exhibited here together with various objects that accompanied the deceased to the afterlife. The exhibits introduce the ancient Egyptians' efforts to defeat death, images of the afterlife, magical tombs, secrets of mummification, ancient Egyptian gods, examples of hieroglyphic writing.
The exhibition also presents fake mummies, reminding of the great interest in mummies and the demand for souvenirs related to them in the XNUMXth century.
Department of the National Museum - House of Stories
As the museum reported, the House of Stories was located in one of the buildings of the former tsarist barracks complex on Tado Kosciuška street, next to another recently opened unit - the former prison.
It is promised to be an exhibition space where "history is presented not only as a fixed past, but also as a reality that we all reflect on and are still creating."
At the end of February, the director of the National Museum, Rūta Kačkutė, told BNS that this department will aim to present scientific research in "simple language", and the exhibitions will be aimed at the whole family.
It is intended to organize two or three changing exhibitions per year. It is also planned to open a cafe here, and various cultural events will be able to take place in the courtyard events.
"We will start with an exhibition about Egyptian mummies. We will tell you about the Egyptian mummies that are kept in Lithuania, how they came to be here, what kind of mummies they are," she said then.
The building, recognized as a cultural heritage, was reconstructed and adapted for museum activities in more than a decade, the works cost about 9,5 million. euros.
According to the museum, the barracks were built in this place around 1880, the military purpose of the complex did not change either during the interwar period or during the Second World War, when it was hosted by German soldiers.
From the currently available data, it is only known that these buildings still belonged to the military service until approximately 1950, and it is also not known exactly when the building was transferred to the executive committee of the city of Vilnius and it was decided to establish a boarding school here.
The complex was transferred to the National Museum almost three decades ago. Currently, in addition to the open House of History, the National Museum of Ethnic Culture and Anthropology collections department and exhibit storage are also located here.
Photo: Arnas Strumila 
Photo: Arnas Strumila 
Photo: Arnas Strumila 
Photo: Arnas Strumila
