Kunstkamera

This guide to the Kunstkamera in Saint Petersburg traces a decree from Peter the Great ordering that any child born with birth defects be preserved and sent to him, and the building where those specimens ended up. You'll hear about Dutch anatomist Frederik Ruysch, whose secret embalming methods Peter bought outright in 1717, and about the free coffee Peter offered visitors just to get them through the door. A 1747 fire tore through the tower and its room-sized globe.