Kunstkamera (The Chamber of Curiosities)

The delicate turquoise tower of this baroque “art chamber” is one of the landmarks of Saint-Petersburg. The building constructed by Georg Mattarnoviy appeared in 1718-1734 in order to house Peter the Great’s infamous collection of various curious items. While touring Holland in 1697 Peter attended the lectures of Frederik Ruysch (1638-1731), the most celebrated anatomist of that period of time. He was so impressed with Ruysch’s collection of rarities that at the end of his trip he purchased the entire collection of over 2 000 anatomical preparations. He transported this collection to Saint-Petersburg and exhibited it to the staggered public who were welcomed with free shot of vodka. At that period of time Peter’s collection included bizarre, live exhibits of deformed or unusual people including a hermaphrodite. The first Russia’s museum also comprised a library, an anatomical theater and observatory. At present Kunstkammer houses the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography with the remnants of Peter’s bizarre collection like the heart and the skeleton of Peter’s personal servant, “Bourgeois”, a giant of 2,27 m and a cabinet of teeth extracted by the tsar who was an enthusiastic amateur dentist. The most gruesome part of this collection are the Siamese twins and a two-headed sheep.

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