Many have probably heard that there is a Bread Museum in St. Petersburg. Not surprising — this product is something of a symbol of life for a city that endured the siege.
The location is convenient: if you arrive by metro, it's a 5–10 minute walk to the destination; if by car, parking won't be a problem. Ticket prices are quite reasonable. You can check the current price on their website. By the way, if you hold an EKP card (Unified St. Petersburg Resident Card), you can get a discount on the tour or even buy a ticket with points in your personal account (but they sell out quickly).
The museum itself is a solid four out of five. The history of the subject up to the present day is covered quite well. There's a tour on izi.travel that provides information about the main exhibits, and that was enough for me. If you want a more complete story, a guided tour is also an option.
Inside there are many halls; not all of them were remembered in detail, but the general atmosphere of coziness stayed in my memories. First there's an exhibition about bread in ancient times, in particular its influence on the cultures of peoples. Various cooking implements are shown. Next is a hall about the time when bread began to be transported across Russia. Since our country is large, it’s obvious there were certain difficulties that had to be solved.
The next one is one of the most interesting halls, which presents the technological process in bread factories and the machines used for production. As someone who, by duty, worked in a bakery plant, I can say that many things have remained relevant from Soviet times to the present day. They should add more models here that simulate the process in motion!
On the second floor the exhibition continues the story of bread baking in the tsarist era; many curious household items, some instruments and vessels are displayed. All of this smoothly flows into the topic of Soviet public catering.
One of the halls is, of course, devoted to the period of the Great Patriotic War. One of the most memorable moments is the display of siege-era bread rations, varying by month and year of the war. I spent a lot of time at that showcase.
A surprise were the interiors of the house where the museum is located: several stoves, a skylight above the main staircase. It turned out to be a 19th-century mansion that belonged to the merchant I.A. Pastukhov. Moreover, the formal part of the house is located in the second half of the museum route, which brought out so many emotions in me.
The effect of surprise worked, because from the first halls in the service part of the house you couldn't have expected such beauty further on. As I later found out, there are information panels about this somewhere near the entrance, but I missed them. In general, anyone who loves and appreciates architectural details from the past will be pleasantly surprised by what they see.
I recommend to everyone who hasn't been — visit the Bread Museum. It might be a bit boring for children in places. But for adults, the little mansion opens up a sea of information about Russia's history and the everyday life of people who lived on this land. It took me several weeks to process the information I received. So it's not just about bread there.
