Housed in a badly ageing Soviet-era structure, the historical museum charges per single-room floor; the best of these is Buddiyskoe Iskustvo (3rd floor), displaying thangkas, Buddhas and icons salvaged from Buryatiya’s monasteries before their Soviet destruction. Other exhibits include fascinating, gaudy papier mâché models of deities and bodhisattvas rescued from Buryatiya’s many prewar datsany (temples), home shrine tables and often gory Tibetan medical charts. The less interesting Buryat history floor (2nd) can be spied for free from the balcony above.
