The number of objects in the Museum collection is above 34 thousand. The Museum is proud of the unique collections of Old Russian painting, of church sculptures, golden-stitch embroidery, hand-written and rare early printed books, monuments of Old Belief, provincial portraits of the 18th - 19th centuries. Well presented are the collections of local crafts: clay toys and embroidery, fancy weaving, women’s headwear, golden-threaded kerchiefs, painted and carved distaffs, copper casts, articles of worship. Many Kargopol icons adorn the expositions of the largest museums in Russia (including the Hermitage, the Russian Museum, etc.).

17 architectural monuments of federal importance, the masterpieces of white stone and wood of the Russian North dating back to the 16th - 18th centuries, such as the church ensembles of Khristorozhdestvensky (Christ’s Nativity) and the Annunciation Cathedrals in Kargopol, wooden church ensembles in Oshevensk, Saunino, Lyadiny, are under the authority of the Museum.

Presented are the Kargopol clay toys, folk crafts objects. The Museum arranges master-classes in making and painting toys, tourists can have the toys made by themselves.

The Museum was opened in 1993 in a primary school of the village of Lyuadiny. It is aimed at preservation and revival of folk crafts (of flax produce, in particular), at collecting and studying of ethnographic and folklore materials. Schoolchildren learn how to plait things of birch bark, weave, etc.

The Lache Lake of 334 square km is one of the largest lakes in the south-west of the Ark-hangelsk Region. It is 33 km long, 8-13 km wide, 3-4 m deep. 12 rivers fall into the lake: Svid, Kovzha, Lekshma and others. There are many springs which do not freeze even in bitter frosts. The River Onega has its source at the northern end of the lake.

Shallow as it is, the lake is well warmed through in summer and often becomes overgrown; it is rich in fish and very popular with lovers of angling and water tourism.

It is situated on the border of the Arkhangelsk and Vologda Regions; its area is 416 square km, it is 64 km long, 7-16 km wide, and 3-4 m deep. About 20 tributaries fall into the lake, the largest being the Vozhega, the Yeloma, the Modlona Rivers. The river Svid connects the Vozhe with the Lache Lake. On one of the islands of the Vozhe-ozero there are the ruins of the 17th century monastery. The lake is very popular with anglers; bream, roach, pike, vendace, ide, sparling bite well here.

It is one of the most beautiful lakes in the Arkhangelsk Region; it is situated in the western Onega area. Its area is 68.6 square km, it is up to 90 m deep maximum. Mountainous environments of the lake are sometimes called ‘the Kargopol Switzerland’. The hills rise 50-100 m high above the lake mirror. One can come across the numerous Neolithic sites and monuments of wooden architecture belonging to church. Forests around are rich in mushrooms and berries. In older times trading routes from the Onega Land to Zavolochye area went through these lands. The network of rivers and lakes allowed merchants to come from the Onega Lake to the Kenozero, go down the Kena River to the Onega River and then to the Northern Dvina.

A picturesque lake is famous for its clear water and the abundance of fish (12 species). The area of the lake is 54.4 square km, it is 12.5 km long, 5-8 km wide, and up to 38 m deep. The small river of the Lekshma connects the lake to the Lache.

The 20 thousand hectare reserve was created in 1971 to preserve some biological species, such as whooper swan, bean goose, bald coot, mallard, buffel-headed duck, widgeon, teal, muskrat.

The reserve of 23.6 thousand hectares was created in 1975. The preserved animals there are elk, wild boar, European brown bear, fox, squirrel, common otter, lynx, pine marten, European beaver, blue hare, and other game.

It is a settlement 10 km to the east of Kargopol. It is famous for the Church of Rozhdestva Khistova (Christ’s Nativity) with a wooden tent-shaped roof (1745).

A settlement 35 km to the west of Kargopol. There is an ensemble of three outstanding wooden architectural monuments there – a winter Bogoyavlenskaya (the Theophany) Church of 12 cupolas with a refectory and an original round porch (1793), a summer Pokrovskaya (the Patronage of the Mother of God) Church with a tent-shaped roof (1761) and interior of which includes an iconostasis and painted ‘heavens’, a very high eight-sides bell-tower with a tent-shaped roof (1820). Such ensemble of three cult buildings was once characteristic for a Russian northern village, this one is the only monument which has survived.

A big and picturesque settlement of Oshevenskoye lies on the river bank of the Churyega, 44 km from Kargopol. The settlement consists of three villages, Pogost, Shiryaikha and Niz. The village of Pogost has preserved the wooden tent-roofed Bogoyavlenskaya (the Epiphany) Church (1787) with a large iconostasis and ‘painted heavens’ and a separately standing bell-tower. The village of Niz is proud of its miniature Georgiyevskaya (St. George’s) Chapel which is being restored at present. There one can see the remains of an ancient water mill. In the environs of Oshevenskoye there is the Aleksandro-Oshevensky Monastery built in honour of the dormition of our most holy Mother of God.