Russia: Saint Petersburg – Kunstkamera & Zoological Museum

Kunstkamera was the first museum founded in Russia by Peter the Great in 1727. Officially known as the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, it contains an insane number of artifacts – over 2 million! Originally, it all began with Peter the Great’s personal collection of curios, such as abnormal human and animal fetuses (there is still a room displaying fetuses in bottles). Eventually, it evolved into an extensive collection of mummified animals, plants, insects, and so on. In the early 19th century, the focus shifted to ethnography.