Kunstkamera at the All-Russian Exhibition Center
Last year we went to St. Petersburg, visited the famous Cabinet of Curiosities of Peter I, looked at the freaks preserved in alcohol, although in fact only one of several halls of the museum is reserved for them. The rest talk about the culture of different peoples of the world...
Recently I accidentally found out that a cabinet of curiosities had also opened in Moscow. Located at the All-Russian Exhibition Center in pavilion No. 2, in the same place as the sharks. The loud name actually implies a small hall where for 300 rubles. (ticket price) you will be able to look at 3D photographs of freaks preserved in alcohol, apparently taken in the St. Petersburg Kunstkamera, as well as wax figures of people with various physical disabilities. Previously, they charged 100 rubles for photography, but now on the price sign with the number “100” there is a piece of paper with the inscription “Free”. 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 there. Perhaps, in order to keep visitors, 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 sales. But these videos can probably change, and next time they will show something different.
Execution machine
Prison on the island of Santo Stefano. Here, among the prisoners during the years of the fascist regime, were the future President of Italy Alessandro Pertini, the writer Giorgio Amendola, the journalist Lelio Basso, the politician Altiero Spinelli, and the communist Umberto Terracini. It’s not entirely clear what the Kunstkamera has to do with it.
Three-legged man - Georg Lippert. His third leg was fully formed, but still inoperative. According to Lippert himself, it was once able to function like an ordinary limb, but due to a fracture it became unusable. Lippert performed in the circus, where he received the title “The Only Man with Three Legs on Earth.” But in 1898 Francesco Lentini arrived from Italy and the title was lost. Francesco had a fully functional third leg, and he could even play football with it.
The hairy man is Fyodor Makhnov. His entire body was covered with thick hair, except for his palms and feet. Worked at a postal yard in Siberia. In severe frosts he walked in only a shirt. This is how it can be seen under the lighting created in the cabinet of curiosities.
And this is his real appearance.
Pig woman. This is the only such anomaly recorded. She was born as an ordinary child. At the age of 14, the upper lip began to fuse with the bridge of the nose. By the age of 25, the pig's snout has formed. She was the daughter of a priest, very pious. She lived 94 years, was married and gave birth to two children.
Two-faced Janus. 19th century. German musician. On the back of his head he had the semblance of a second face. He hid it carefully until he was 20 years old. I had no success in music and decided to use this shortcoming of mine. After this, his career took off; many wanted to see a musician with two faces. It doesn't even matter how he played.
Two-headed hunter. This man was captured by the troops of Emperor Leopold I during the war with Turkey. He was a very accurate archer. Each of his heads could speak separately and during the interrogation they whispered. For a long time there was confusion in the documents of that interrogation, because... it was unclear how many people they questioned.
A type of Siamese twin, the second body grew from the chest of the first. He was a musketeer for Louis XIII. But in fact, he was a musketeer jester. There was no question of any military service. 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 located on top of each other. According to contemporaries, “he could close any eye separately from the others, he could rotate each eye separately, which was the most repulsive sight.” Johnny not only did not have a complex about his face, but was even glad about it. Using his ability to roll and roll his eyes, he loved to scare people. At the same time, he sang obscene songs in an unpleasant raspy voice.
A few more photos from the Kunstkamera at the All-Russian Exhibition Center:
