Museum of Erotica, St. Petersburg, Russia

Almost every big city in the world tries to have a museum of erotica, as a symbol of being civilized and advanced. In 2004 St. Petersburg joined the ranks of those cities: a museum of erotica was opened here. As in other museums of this type, here one can find dozens of sexual «toys». The founder of the museum, Igor Knyazkin is the head of prostate research center of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. By opening this museum he aimed to show that Russia is an advanced country and yields to not a single European country. Besides, he wanted to develop the perception of eroticism among people. In his endeavor to ennoble his motherland, Knyazkin purchased a unique exhibit for his museum – Grigori Rasputin's phallus…

In his interview after the opening ceremony of the museum, Knyazkin said: «Now we can stop envying America, where Napoleon Bonapare's penis is now kept. .... Napoleon's penis is but a small «pod» it cannot stand comparison to our organ of 30 centimeters...». Indeed, Rasputin's «manhood» is significant for its size. There are scientists who imply that in reality it belongs to a horse, not a human. This Siberian's whole life has always been cloaked in mystery. Now it is turn for his manhood to be unveiled.

It is well known that the monk was a retinue to Romanov royal family, particularly to Empress Alexandra. Their relationship was motivated by the rare disease (hemophilia) of the heir to the throne. They say only Rasputin was able to stop the bleeding. Soon Rasputin became so influential, that in 1916 a group of aristocrats decided to eliminate this obstacle. The situation was worsened by the fact that Rasputin practiced a strange mixture of Christianity and sexuals rituals. Rumor had it that many noble women were involved in sexual relations with Rasputin, including the Empress. In order to stop this obscurantism, «conspirators» invited Rasputin to a feast, where they gave him poisoned wine, shot him and threw him in the frozen river. Here it is when his legendary genitals show up. They say that before throwing the dead body into the river, the murderers castrated him. The cleaning maid discovered the cut off organ.

After wandering all over the world, the exhibit settled in Igor Knyazkin's museum. And despite the fact that there are no certain proofs of originality for the main exhibit, guests of the northern capital and the locals eagerly visit the museum to see IT. The address of the museum is Furshatskaya embankment, 47/11a (metro Chernyshevskaya), it works daily from 8:00 till 21:30.

By Sona Gasparian, www.building.am