Description of the attraction
St. Petersburg, Konnogvardeisky boulevard, house 4 is the address of an unusual museum that has hospitably opened for visitors. The uniqueness of this museum is that it operates under the same roof as a restaurant in the central historical part of St. Petersburg near St. Isaac's Square. In tsarist times, this house housed several barracks and stables of the Life Guards Equestrian Regiment of His Imperial Majesty. But that's not all, the fact is that the museum is dedicated to the drink, which is considered to be primordially Russian and is the hallmark of Russia: the museum is dedicated to Russian vodka, it is called the Museum of Russian Vodka.
It became the first, not only in Russia, but also in the world, a museum, whose expositions tell about the drink that accompanies the most important events in the life of a Russian person.
For several centuries, the history of vodka has been inextricably linked with the history of the Russian state by the strongest ties. According to legend, monks from Constantinople brought the technology of making alcohol to Russia. There, alcohol was obtained by distillation from grapes. Since at that time grapes were not cultivated in Russia, the monks drove alcohol from the grain. Grain alcohol was no worse than grape alcohol, and in some respects even better, for which it received the name "water of life" (aqua vita). Later they didn’t call this “water”: bread wine, burning water, bitter water, burnt water, smoked wine.
At first, perfumes and medicinal tinctures were made on its basis. When the great plague broke out, it occurred to someone to treat it with alcohol. Although treatment with alcohol did not help with plague disease, there was still a partial insignificant positive effect. So the disinfecting properties of alcohol-containing liquids were discovered.
The origin of distilling in Russia took place in the period from 1448 to 1478, when a technology was developed that made it possible to obtain bread alcohol. It was in 1478 that Ivan III introduced the first state monopoly on "bread wine" and the first "taverns" were opened.
Peter the Great, thanks to the fact that he legalized the consumption of alcohol, received huge sums of money for the treasury, which he needed to equip Russia in a European way.
The calculating Empress Catherine allowed her nobles to legitimize the clandestine production of vodka on their estates by introducing a pay-off mechanism. Anyone eager to produce "bitter" paid the treasury a certain amount, and in return he was given the opportunity to brew vodka at home. Thanks to Catherine, many varieties and types of vodka appear in Russia.
In the second half of the nineteenth century, vodka production took place on a grand scale, this sector of the economy became the most profitable. Russian vodka became known far beyond the borders of Russia. Russian scientists also contributed. The works of D. I. Mendeleev, who determined the golden proportion of alcohol and water in vodka, which gave this drink a special taste. Forty-degree vodka was patented in 1894, and received the name "Moscow Special".
These and many other facts can be found out by examining the exposition of the museum. Here you can see wax figures of monks from the Chudovsky Monastery located in the Kremlin, who received the first bread alcohol, old engravings, portraits of personalities who contributed to the development and formation of the production of "bread wine". The main part of the collection is represented by antique kitchen utensils, vessels, containers. The pearl of the collection are bottles (XІX century), made for distilleries by Russian craftsmen from porcelain and glass. Looking at them, it becomes clear that for a Russian person, a feast is a real ritual, rooted in the deep past of Russia.
Museum visitors are invited not only to inspect the expositions, but also to taste several varieties and types of vodka products. Not a single visitor was left indifferent to the vodka museum; any person, whether he is a Russian or a foreigner, has indelible memories.
