Russian Watermelon Museum

About museum

The Russian Watermelon Museum is located in the building of the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Irrigated Vegetable and Melon Growing (GNU VNIIOB) in Astrakhan Oblast, which in 2005 was declared the center of the Russian watermelon. In 2006 the first and so far only museum in Russia and Europe dedicated to this striped berry opened here. The history of the watermelon goes back to Ancient Egypt, and in the land of Astrakhan it has been known since the 7th century. The Khans of the Golden Horde preferred watermelons to other fruits, and nomads took them on their campaigns. Watermelons appeared in Europe only in the 11th–12th centuries, and in Russia they were imported from abroad until the second half of the 17th century. Under Peter I, watermelons became a delicacy at court assemblies. A boom in watermelon cultivation began in the Astrakhan Governorate at the end of the 19th century thanks to two enterprising peasants. Since then watermelons have become the main source of income for the inhabitants of this land.