National Museum in Kikinda | Museums in Serbia

The National Museum in Kikinda presents the history of the city in an extraordinary way. It is the oldest single-story building in the city, originally used for administrative and judicial purposes until the end of World War II. It was later used as a prison until the 1970s and is now popularly referred to as "Kurija," which translates to "courtroom" in Latin.

The building of the former Magistrate of Veliki Kikinda District is a late Baroque structure built in 1839, and the National Museum began its work in 1946.

The Permanent Exhibition showcases the founding of Kikinda in the mid-18th century, emphasizing multicultural influences and traditional way of life. It chronologically presents the city's development and elements of Kikinda's identity. In addition to the chronological display, it presents the urban development and intangible cultural heritage of Kikinda. Among the most important identity elements are exhibitions about mammoths, Opel cars, grain, foundry, clay, railway, and the so-called Eighth Offensive.

The museum collection consists of more than 25,000 exhibits, and several collections are displayed in the museum, including:

• Historical
• Archaeological
• Natural Science
• Ethnological
• Art Collection

The Ethnological collection contains about 5,000 crafts, agricultural objects, and objects of domestic craftsmanship, reminiscent of the former way of life in these areas.

The Archaeological collection includes over 13,000 artifacts, with some of the oldest exhibits from the Mokrin necropolis. Old coins, written documents, and other objects make up the museum's historical collection. The most significant works of visual art and the collection of contemporary art belong to the art collection, while herbariums, insectaries, and preserved animals form the museum's youngest collection, the natural science collection.

The most significant museum exhibit is Kika, the skeleton of a female steppe short-haired mammoth dating back approximately half a million years. It is an extremely rare find in which all major bones, tusks, and skull are preserved. Kika is also a symbol of the city, and a life-size replica of her is exhibited in the courtyard of the National Museum.

The Kikinda Museum also preserves one of the three oldest Suvača buildings in Europe. Suvača is a roof made of wooden shingles and a wheel to which one or five pairs of horses were harnessed. Today, it is considered a true gem of folk architecture and represents a monument of exceptional cultural significance.

Although it is one of the youngest Banat towns, traces of life in Kikinda have been preserved for over seven thousand years. The museum also houses one of the most acoustically impressive concert halls in Vojvodina.

As one of the top tourist attractions in Kikinda, the National Museum is open to visitors from Tuesday to Saturday, from 10 am to 8 pm. The ticket price is 150 dinars, and for privileged population categories, the ticket costs 100 dinars.