Anatomical museums are invariably of great interest to tourists. When museums of history or arts do not arouse sufficient interest, then before the upcoming vacation, you should choose an exposition that will really touch the living

Museum Vrolik

Provocative Museum Museum Vrolik (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) was founded by father and son Vrolik. Translated from Anglo-Dutch, the word "vrolik" means "fervent", for this reason the museum received such a strange name

Gerardas Vrolik, and William Vrolik were professors of medicine and studied mutations in humans. They collected huge collection mutations, which eventually turned into a museum. The exhibits include Siamese twins, children of the Cyclopes, two-headed monsters. ##dy-mutants of various stripes make an indelible impression on visitors

The Human Body Exhibition

The Human Body Exhibition, or exhibition of the human body, was first exhibited in Florida in 2005 and has since been held in many cities around the world.

The geography of the exhibition is more than impressive: Winnipeg, Dublin, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Atlanta, Vienna, Madrid, Buenos Aires, Montreal, Niagara Falls (Ontario), Bogota, Cordoba, Barcelona, ​​Cincinnati, Santiago de Chile, Sao Paulo , Prague, Bratislava, Sofia, Zagreb, Budapest, Belgrade, Lisbon, Atlantic City, San Diego, Las Vegas, New York, San Antonio, Washington, Omaha, Honolulu, Indianapolis, Phoenix, Sacramento, Tucson, Cleveland , Seattle, Detroit, Riga, Warsaw, Puerto Rico, Ljubljana, and Boise, Haifa, as well as Houston, Tegucigalpa, San Salvador (El Salvador), Bucharest, London. Embalmed human bodies, dissected in such a way as to show on the one hand the complexity of the structure, were used as exhibits of the exhibition. human body, and on the other hand, show its beauty and harmony. How beautiful it looks, judge for yourself

It should be noted that the people whose bodies are exhibited as exhibits, during their lifetime, gave written consent to the use of their bodies after death as drugs. Everyone who liked the exhibition can make a posthumous will on the spot and replenish the exhibition after death

Kunstkamera in St. Petersburg

The Kunstkamera in St. Petersburg was founded in 1714 by order of Peter the Great

The Kunstkamera contains more than a million exhibits. If earlier the exhibits were used for scientific purposes, then at present it is exclusively a museum of human mutations and deformities, where visitors can see with their own eyes incredible metamorphoses that nature does with human flesh

It is worth saying that in addition to the so-called "exhibition of freaks", this museum famous for its numerous exhibits that tell the historical past of many peoples of the world

Museum of the human body in the Netherlands

The museum was created twelve years. The creation of the collection took twenty-seven million dollars. The building is located inside the model of a giant man, which makes it possible to walk freely inside and get acquainted with the structure and work of the organs and systems of the human body. Museum staff must have a medical education and intelligibly answer all kinds of questions from visitors

If you want to improve your knowledge of human anatomy, then the Museum of the Human Body in the Netherlands is perfect place for this

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Seven extraordinary exhibits Kunstkamery

Petersburg Kunstkamera (today the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography named after Peter the Great RAS) was founded in 1714. Peter the Great created it as a collection of curiosities and scientific curiosities, and his heirs continued to replenish the collection. "Kultura.RF" tells about seven amazing exhibits from the collection of the Kunstkamera.

Kunstkamera, St. Petersburg. Photo: Lilyana Vinogradova / photo bank "Lori"

One of the very first exhibits of the Kunstkamera. The preparation with the skeleton of Siamese twins comes from the collection of the famous Dutch anatomist Frederic Ruysch. His anatomical preparations, which he created using his own methods, were famous throughout Europe. In his youth, Peter the Great, having visited Holland with the Great Embassy, ​​visited his "office" among other sights of Amsterdam - and was delighted.

Nearly 20 years later, upon learning that Ruysch was selling off his vastly expanded collection, Peter purchased several thousand items for 30,000 gold guilders. These items (and other collections bought in the same period) became the basis of the Kunstkamera's collection.

This is the world's first "globe-planetarium": you can climb into it through a special door and from the inside look at the star map placed on the inner surface. The diameter of the giant globe is 3 meters, so it is comfortable to sit in it. It was commissioned by the Duke of Gottorp Frederick III (hence the name), and the author of the project was the great cartographer Adam Olearius. In 1713, the next ruler of the duchy presented this toy weighing 3.5 tons to the famous lover of rarities - Peter the Great, who was delighted with the gift and installed it in the building of the Kunstkamera.

However, in mid-eighteenth century, the globe burned down - only the mechanical frame was preserved. However, it was soon restored and named in a new way: "Big Academic Globe". At the beginning of the 20th century, he was in Tsarskoe Selo, from where he was kidnapped by the Nazis. In 1948, the globe was returned to exactly where the founder of the Kunstkamera placed it.

This mechanical toy depicts a heavenly boat on which a deity (made of amber), surrounded by dancers and musicians (made of ivory) travels across the seas and oceans. The mechanism of the boat is wound up with the help of a key - the ship moves, and the servants dance and play music.

A rare example of symbiosis oriental art and Western mechanics was created in early XVIII century at the court of the Manchu Emperor Kangxi, in a Chinese watch workshop, which worked under the guidance of Jesuit missionaries. The toy was bought in Beijing in 1719-1720, apparently by the Russian envoy L.V. Izmailov. This is one of the exhibits of the Kunstkamera, preserved from the times of Peter the Great.

Scientists called Venus similar figures of the era Upper Paleolithic(40-12 thousand years ago) partly as a joke: they do not look much like images of a beautiful ancient goddess Aphrodite. And partly because they have hypertrophied signs of femininity - breasts and buttocks, which are important for childbearing. In cave times, such ladies were highly valued.

According to one version Paleolithic Venus- these are images of the goddess-progenitor, a symbol of fertility; on the other - amulets or images real women. This figurine, carved from mammoth tusk, is approximately 21-23 thousand years old. It was excavated at the Kostenki site in Central Russia in 1936.

One of the works of the great anthropologist Mikhail Gerasimov, who came up with a method of sculptural restoration of a person's appearance from the skull. The Kunstkamera houses big collection his works. The bust of the Prince of Vladimir, who died at the hands of assassins, was created by the professor in 1939. During this period, the remains of many great rulers of Rus' were available to Gerasimov for work - after all, most of them became saints, their remains rested in shrines, which the Bolsheviks opened and seized from churches.

In the guise of Andrei, the Asian cut of the eyes and high cheekbones are surprising - Gerasimov was guided both by genetic markers of the skeleton and the theory that the prince's mother, a Polovtsian, "Aepina's daughter" (daughter of Khan Aepa), belonged to Mongoloid race. In the 2000s, with the blessing of the Russian Orthodox Church a new reconstruction of the appearance of the prince was made - and, according to the latest version, there should not be any Mongoloidity in his face.

Astrolabe of Arsenius

These tools for determining the position of stars were invented back in Ancient Greece. In the Middle Ages, the best astrolabes were made by the Arabs, and the Europeans only copied them. In Europe, they learned how to create astrolabes according to own projects only in the 16th century. One of the best craftsmen of this period was the Fleming Gualterus Arsenius, who worked on the orders of Philip II of Spain and other monarchs. All over the world, only 21 astrolabes of his work have been preserved, and in Russia - only one.

The capital of Austria - Vienna, is famous for its museums, visiting which is included in many tourist programs. Art Museum Albertina, the Belvedere palace complex, the Grassmayr bell museum, the winter residence of the Austrian Habsburgs - the Hofburg - all of them occupy their own, honorary level, among the sights of Vienna.

The Federal Pathological Anatomical Museum, for its almost century-old history, has accumulated a lot of chilling exhibits. Despite the fact that a visit to this museum is not recommended for people who are impressionable or have weak nerves, the Tower of the Madmen is undoubtedly a landmark in Austria. In 1784, Emperor Joseph II, the Tower was built as the first mental hospital. Even one glance at the building is enough to make sure of its true, original purpose. In its original version, the building existed until 1936, when the first museum samples appeared, and national museum, became in 1976.

Today, here is a large number of mysterious specimens. Dissected skulls, mummified heads, exhibits showing various genetic diseases, internal organs of alcoholics and smokers, severed limbs, alcoholized babies born with various pathologies - this is just a part of what has been collected for an impressionable public. The alcoholized head of the murderer of Empress Sisi is one of the most valuable museum exhibits.

As a result of the bombings of the Second World War, the sculpture of Laocoön, with his sons, made of human and animal bones, was destroyed. When the building served its original function as a hospital, they studied, along with psychiatric, and venereal diseases - their consequences and symptoms. Thanks to this, many exhibits have been preserved on this topic, one of them is an antique mahogany gynecological chair. In addition to the fact that you can see everything, the museum tells in detail about each instance. The Vienna Pathology Museum is unique, interesting and mysterious. Undeniable is the fact that a person who decides to visit the Tower of Madmen will have enough impressions for many years to come.

Last year we went to St. Petersburg, visited the famous Cabinet of Curiosities of Peter I, looked at the freaks in alcohol, although in fact only one of several halls of the museum is reserved for them. Others talk about culture various peoples peace...

Recently, I accidentally found out that a cabinet of curiosities was also opened in Moscow. It is located at the All-Russian Exhibition Center in pavilion No. 2, in the same place as the sharks. The loud name actually means a small hall, where for 300 rubles. (ticket price) you can look at 3D photographs of freaks in alcohol, made, apparently, in the St. Petersburg Cabinet of Curiosities, as well as wax figures people with various physical disabilities. Previously, they charged 100 rubles for photography, now a piece of paper with the inscription “Free” hangs on the price plate on the number “100”. Thank you anyway.

Let's move on to what you can see there. Hand on heart, I can say that some moments were interesting, but the exhibition is very small, you can go around everything and read all the descriptions in 10 minutes, so there is not much interesting, respectively. Perhaps, in order to keep visitors there, they also play a video about smoking, which tells not only about its harm to health, but also about what is actually in the cigarettes sold, and how manufacturing companies earn their millions from their sale. But, these videos can probably change, and next time they will show something different there.

Execution machine

Prison on the island of Santo Stefano. Here, among the prisoners, during the years of the fascist regime, the future president of Italy Alessandro Pertini, the writer Giorgio Amendola, the journalist Lelio Basso, the politician Altiero Spinelli, and the communist Umberto Terracini visited. It is not entirely clear what the Kunstkamera has to do with it.

Three-legged man - Georg Lippert. His third leg was fully formed, but was nonetheless inoperable. According to Lippert himself, it once could act like an ordinary limb, but due to a fracture it became unusable. Lippert performed in the circus, where he received the title " The only person with three feet on the ground. But in 1898 Francesco Lentini arrived from Italy and the title was lost. Francesco's third leg was quite working, and he could even play football with it.

Hairy man - Fedor Makhnov. His entire body was covered with thick hair, except for his hands and feet. He worked at the post office in Siberia. IN very coldy walked in one shirt. So it can be seen under the illumination created in the Kunstkamera.

And this is his real look.

Pig woman. This is the only recorded such anomaly. was born an ordinary child. At the age of 14 splicing began upper lip with a carrier. By the age of 25, a pig snout was formed. She was the daughter of a priest, very pious. She lived for 94 years, was married and had two children.

Two-faced Janus. 19th century. German musician. On the back of his head he had the likeness of a second person. He carefully hid it for 20 years. He had no success in music and decided to use this shortcoming of his. After that, his career went up, many wanted to see a musician with two faces. And it doesn't even matter how he played.

Two-headed hunter. This man was taken prisoner by the troops of Emperor Leopold I during the war with Turkey. Was very marksman from a bow. Each of his heads could talk separately and during the interrogation they whispered. For a long time there was confusion in the documents of that interrogation, because it was not clear how many people they were interrogating.

A kind of Siamese twins, the second torso grew from chest first. He was a musketeer for Louis XIII. But in fact - it was a musketeer jester. about any military service there could be no speech. He wore a musketeer's cloak and amused the courtiers.

Four-eyed. In 1854, a certain Johnny Stoker from Cleveland had two pairs of brown eyes set one above the other. According to contemporaries, "he could close any eye separately from each other, he could rotate each eye separately, which was the most repulsive sight." Johnny not only did not complex about his face, but was even glad about it. Using his ability to roll and roll out his eyes, he liked to scare people. At the same time, he sang indecent songs in an unpleasant raspy voice.

A few more photos from the Kunstkamera at the All-Russian Exhibition Center:

The Kunstkamera is one of the main attractions of St. Petersburg. This is traditionally called the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography named after Peter the Great. There are many shocking facts associated with it.

Seal of the Antichrist

The name "Kunstkamera" comes from the German "kunsht" - "rarity". First exhibits museum collection were bought in 1714 by Peter I from the Dutch embalmer professor Frederic Ruyshi. Basically, these were samples of various physical pathologies in alcohol, for example, two-headed babies and other carriers of congenital deformities.

For the first time, the exposition was opened for public viewing in the Green Cabinet summer garden, and in 1718 she was transferred to the Kikin Chambers on Vasilyevsky Island. But the people were not very eager to consider rarities. There were rumors that they had the seal of the Antichrist on them, and in the premises of the museum, devilry. They said, for example, that the shadows of the exhibits are separated from the objects and move independently around the hall.

In order to lure visitors to the museum, the emperor ordered not to charge an entrance fee and to bring each guest a damask of wine or vodka, and if someone does not drink, then a cup of coffee.

Already after the death of Peter, in 1734, a new spacious building was built for the Kunstkamera. But in 1747 there was a fire. Many exhibits were destroyed. Some of them, saving from the fire, the servants threw out into the street, where passers-by irretrievably stole the museum goods. Subsequently, the people came up with the idea that the fire was set up again by otherworldly forces hosting the museum.

Giants and dwarfs

For some time, under Peter, the Frenchman Nicolas Bourgeois served as a haiduk. He was a giant: the height of this man was 226.7 centimeters. In 1724, Bourgeois died of apoplexy, and his skeleton, as well as his heart, took their place in the Kunstkamera.

One of the legends says that during the fire, the Bourgeois skeleton lost its head and subsequently another skull was attached to it. Since then, the ghost of the giant has been wandering the halls, looking for the lost body part.

And the dwarf Fedor Ignatiev lived at the Kunstkamera for 16 years as an exhibit. Fedor's height was 126 centimeters, besides, he was a freak: on right hand and Ignatiev had only two fingers on his feet. It seemed that these were not human limbs, but pincers. According to stories, Tsar Peter, appearing in the Kunstkamera, always personally shook hands with the dwarf.

Exhibits that bring misfortune

There are several legends about the artifacts stored in the Kunstkamera, which have mystical power. For example, there is a watch in a mahogany case, the hands of which usually stand, but supposedly sometimes they suddenly start moving backward, always stopping at the same position - 9 hours 45 minutes. And after that, as a rule, one of the museum employees dies.

Another "cursed" exhibit is a statuette of a bronze cat. It is said that from time to time she blinks, and if someone is present at the same time, then she is waiting for him. quick death. So, one student decided to spend the night in the pantry next to the notorious figurine, and the next morning no one was found in the pantry, only the cat grinned ominously. More young man no one has ever seen.

Human heads were kept in the Kunstkamera

Another legend says that once in the storerooms of the Kunstkamera there were two glass vessels, in each of which in an alcohol solution was human head. One allegedly belonged to the official and lover of Catherine I, Willim Mons, who was executed by Peter I, the other belonged to the ex-favorite of Peter I, Maria Hamilton, who was beheaded for killing own child, born, however, not from a royal lover, but from his orderly Ivan Orlov. Hamilton also, as a chambermaid to the Empress, stole her jewels.

At the end 19th century historian Mikhail Semevsky tried to find containers with heads in the cellars of the Kunstkamera, but to no avail. According to one version, they were buried by order of Catherine II.