KUNSTKAMERA, Kunstkamera

Hi, my name’s Scott, and I’m your personal guide. Along with MyWoWo, I’d like to welcome you to one of the Wonders of the World: the Kunstkamera.

The "Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences", better known as the Kunstkamera, was the first public museum to be opened in Russia.

The building was designed by Georg Johann Mattarnovy, in a mix of architectural styles typical of Northern Europe that Tsar Peter the Great was so fond of that it became known as Petrine Baroque. Work began in 1719, and the complex was completed in 1727.

Peter the Great had the complex built to display his Kunstkamera, or "cabinet of curiosities". The literal meaning of the German term is "room of art", but during the 18th century it was used to indicate the private collections of nobles....