The Minusinsk Museum named after Martyanov became the first museum in the Yenisei province. It was founded in 1877 by local pharmacist and botanist Nikolai Martyanov and serves as a center for cultural and educational activities in southern Krasnoyarsk Krai. The museum hosts an annual archival film festival and the 'Martyanov Local History Readings.'

In the early years, the museum was called the 'Pearl of Siberia,' and foreign travelers noted it as one of the most interesting attractions in southern Krasnoyarsk Krai.

Initially, the museum existed on donations from citizens, including peasants. A dedicated building for the museum was constructed in 1890 specifically for exhibitions. The first major state donation of 1500 rubles came in 1900 from the city treasury. The museum was named after Martyanov in 1904, the year of its founder's death. A bust of Martyanov is installed between the old and new museum buildings.

The museum's collections number over 200,000 items, with exhibitions housed in three buildings, of which the second is closed for restoration. Six main exhibitions are related to local history themes. The 'Living Nature of Siberia' hall features stuffed animals and birds, samples of the flora of Krasnoyarsk Krai, as well as minerals and semi-precious stones. Here, one can also see paleontological finds illustrating the evolution of life on Earth. The collection 'Ancient Stone Statues' includes stone sculptures and petroglyphs found in the Minusinsk basin, depicting warriors and stelae with inscriptions in the Orkhon-Yenisei language from the 7th to 13th centuries. The exhibition 'Ancient Civilizations of the Sayan-Altai' showcases archaeological finds that allow for the reconstruction of the region's history from ancient times and includes one of the largest collections of Bronze and Iron Age artifacts in Siberia. The section 'Ethnic Groups of the Sayan-Altai' presents an ethnographic collection reflecting the lifestyle of the Khakass and neighboring peoples. The Khakass collection was awarded a silver medal at an international exhibition in Paris in the early 20th century. The exhibition 'The South of the Yenisei Region in the 18th and Early 20th Century' tells about the development of the Minusinsk district and its economic growth within the Russian Empire. The memorial room '19th Century Reading Room' recreates the interior of the reading room that operated at the museum, where Lenin worked during his exile in Minusinsk.