Kuznetsk fortress - a historical and architectural complex is one of the main attractions of the city of Novokuznetsk. The museum is located on the territory of the ancient fortification, built in XVIII-XIX Art. It, in turn, is on the mountain of the Ascension, which rises above the Kuznetsk district. Kuznetsk fortress - a sample of the Siberian military engineering art of the late second half of the XVIII - beginning of XIX century.

The museum was founded in 1991. The museum occupies 21 hectares. These include the fortress itself and other historical and natural monuments, including a waterfall in a narrow canyon near Verhotomskoye redoubt Kuznetsk citadel. The structure also includes more than a dozen architectural and military fortifications, preserved to this day in varying degrees, as well as several archaeological sites of different types. Exposition of the museum tell visitors about the military history of the region since ancient times, about the life and culture of the local people.

Along the perimeter of the citadel, which is shaped like an elongated rectangle, runs an earth mound with redanami. At the corners of the fortress were built of stone polubastiony, two of them (Tomsk and Kuznetsk) lined with sandstone slabs. Polubastionami arranged between the three-story brick Passage Tower, from where the road to Barnaul.

Construction of the fortress began in 1800 and ended in 1820 construction was part of a system of fortifications, the main function of which was to keep the aggressive actions of the Qing China. However, in 1846 Kuznetsk fortress has been removed from the balance of the Ministry of War. Then there was organized a prison for criminals. Jail functioned until 1919, when it burned.

In June 1960 the Kuznetsk fortress gained the status of a monument of national importance. In 1998, there began large-scale construction. In 2011, the museum acquired the status of the museum-reserve.