The Lithuanian Museum of Ethnocosmology is both an observatory and a museum at the same time. The museum is located in a picturesque location, in close proximity to the village of Kulionys and Lake Želvos, about seventy kilometers north of Vilnius. The Lithuanian Museum of Ethnocosmology is the first and only museum of its kind in the world.
The authors of the idea of creating a museum are Dr. Gunaras Kakaras, head of the Personnel Department of the Molet Astronomical Observatory, and Dr. Libertas Klimka, senior researcher at the Institute of Semiconductor Physics. Everything that exactly relates to astronomy and ethnology through the connection of the Lithuanian people with the sky, Sun, Moon, and stars was supposed to be made available not only to scientists, but also to ordinary people, to give them the opportunity to see the light of stars through a telescope, to hear answers to their questions.
In 1978, the one hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary of the Astronomical Observatory of Vilnius University was celebrated. At the initiative of Libertas Klimka, a public museum was opened at the Moleta Astronomical Observatory, where, in addition to the main exhibits - the old telescopes of the Vilnius Observatory, the first ethnographic exhibits reflecting one or another aspect of the relationship between people and Space were presented.
The museum is located in the so-called "special astronomical pavilion". The location for the pavilion was chosen away from the observatory. Next to the building of the open-air museum there is a composition dedicated to the name "ethnocosmology" and its concept.
The weekly "Literature and Art" published an article about the program "Ethnocosmology" as a cultural and scientific phenomenon in the life of Lithuania, and soon on March 15, 1990, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, the Museum of Ethnocosmology was separated into a separate unit of the laboratory experiment Eksma.
On September 17, 1997, the Zeiss telescope, the museum's first telescope, was released at the Museum of Ethnocosmology.
The victory in the competition held within the framework of the European Union Phare 2000 and Phare PPF programs allowed the museum to attract funding to update the architectural concept of the museum. During the 2007-2008 years of construction, the museum acquired a new look. At the same time, the museum purchased a modern telescope with an aperture of eighty centimeters, video and audio equipment. The total amount of financing amounted to LTL 22.317 million.
The Lithuanian Museum of Ethnocosmology collects, preserves and provides visitors with information about scientific research on space exploration, as well as its connection with the fate of mankind.
The museum consists of three parts:
* An underground gallery with five halls, which feature expositions on ethnology, the history of science, philosophy, and astronomy.
* An observatory with an 80-centimeter telescope at the top of a forty-meter tower.
* An open-air composition next to the museum building.