The Russian czar Peter I. succeeded in establishing modern conditions and structures in the Russian empire. Since he loved science and appreciated intellect, he had schools and universities built throughout the empire. Because his curiosity and thirst for knowledge seemed endless, he developed the habit of looking for so-called “cabinets of curiosities” assembled by traders and explorers and buying the whole content of the cabinets. As the name suggests, these cabinets contained curiosities and artefacts from all over the world.
Above all, Peter bought artefacts from Albertus Seba, the most significant natural scientist at that time. In Peter’s cabinet located in St. Petersburg, you can marvel at all kinds of exotic things from all over the globe. The pompous building is divided into several floors, which are all dedicated to several topic. There are departments for clothing, weapons, armors and all kinds of curiosities from Africa, China, Japan, the Americas and other mysterious countries. One of the most bizarre objects may be the collection of preserved animal and human fetuses with malformations… and the head of his formal lover Katharina I…
Under the roof, one of the cabinet’s central pieces has been positioned for exhibition: The Globe of Gottorf. It’s a huge globe representing the world according to the scientific standards then.
Since Peter was a very nice and sophisticated monarch, he let everyone admire his cabinet of curiosities for free and offered each and every visitor a cup of coffee!
Image: © Alex (Florstein) Fedorov, de.wikipedia.org
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