Visiting museums is part of the cultural life of any person, especially a tourist who has come to get acquainted with the sights of the city. Arriving somewhere for the first time, a person immediately goes to the "classical" museums. But those who are already familiar with the city inevitably face the need to find a new place, after visiting which you can share your impressions with friends for a long time.
Residents and guests of St. Petersburg have the opportunity to choose from many small museums. Some of them are quite famous, while others have not yet found their audience. The museum of the history of perfumery belongs to the "atypical" cultural centers. Get to know him better.
Creature
The Museum of the History of Perfumes in St. Petersburg has opened relatively recently. He received his first visitors in 2012. This cultural center is still not very famous.
It was based on the personal collection of Elina Arsenyeva. By the time of the creation of the museum, she had collected perfumes for several decades. The aromas of her aromas were counted in thousands. These "treasures" simply had nowhere to store at home, so Arsenyeva moved them to a small office building on the 3rd Line of Vasilyevsky Island, where the museum was originally located.
In addition to collecting perfumes, Arsenyeva accumulated interesting information: who and when created this or that perfume, why it became exactly the way the public recognized it. Elina carefully selected and systematized the information that later formed the basis of thematic tours of the Perfume Museum in St. Petersburg.
Exhibits
Since the number of perfumes in the museum has gone beyond three thousand copies, among them you can find the most diverse. The collection is represented by the spirits of both the last century and new products. The rarest exhibit is over 100 years old. In the museum you can see the products of domestic and foreign factories. Many perfumes were brought as a gift to Arsenyeva.
Here is one of the photographs made at the Perfume Museum in St. Petersburg.
Visit Features
The main idea of the museum is to preserve the memory of past aromas in people. Arsenyeva seeks to show visitors not only perfume bottles from different factories and eras, but also to taste their contents. Everything happens in the most comfortable atmosphere. There are no watches or any noisy equipment or telephones in the room, the windows are curtained, a cozy twilight reigns in the halls. Elina Vasilievna says: "There is always time to drink tea."
Excursions at the Perfume Museum are individual or for small groups (no more than five people). Everything takes place in an atmosphere of a leisurely and cozy friendly tea party. Guests are seated at a small table. They are treated to tea, bottles are demonstrated, they talk about the peculiarities of aromas. This museum allows you to taste the perfumes on display.
Visitors have a unique opportunity to breathe in the scent of a bygone era. Some exhibits were created before the First World War. One of the most venerable is L'origan from Coty. It was created in 1904, at the dawn of the existence of this cosmetic brand.
There are perfumes in the collection dedicated to certain events. As a rule, these are the aromas of famous Soviet factories: the Moscow New Dawn and the Leningrad Northern Lights. Among them there is a perfume dedicated to the flight of Yuri Gagarin, as well as several fragrances created in honor of Valentina Tereshkova.
Souvenir
At the Perfume Museum in St. Petersburg there is a perfume laboratory Art Deco Perfumes, whose soul is Elina Arsenyeva. In the laboratory you can buy unique author's aromas, combined in collections on various topics: vintage, naturalistic, Leningrad. There is even a small collection of three scents dedicated to Harry Potter spells. A large selection will allow the visitor to find a gift for the most demanding taste.
Reviews
Before visiting a new place, I always want to get acquainted with the reviews, find out some important details that museum staff may accidentally miss. Visitors note that such an excursion can be an interesting and unusual gift for any holiday.
Many in their reviews report that museum staff provide the opportunity to book a theme tour for their birthday. The birthday man and his guests will be told the history of perfumery art. After that, visitors will be able to independently create a new flavor (the hostess of the institution selects products that do not have a pronounced smell). The guests take the resulting perfume with them, and the birthday man receives as a gift something from Arsenyeva's fragrant creations.
Museum guests also note a special atmosphere, relaxed and almost intimate. Many are also pleasantly struck by the opportunity to taste perfumes. Visitors report that this feature distinguishes this cultural institution in St. Petersburg from similar places around the world, making it unique and attractive to connoisseurs of aromas.
It should be said that there are also negative reviews about the Perfume Museum in St. Petersburg. Visitors note that Elina Arsenyeva is not always friendly and correct. For some people who want to visit this institution, she directly answers so that they do not come.
Some visitors write in reviews that it is not always possible to sign up for an excursion dedicated to a topic of interest to them.
Address
In St. Petersburg, the Perfume Museum carefully stores its exhibits. This is an interesting place for connoisseurs of spirits located in the Vasileostrovsky district of the city on the Neva, on the 1st Line of Vasilyevsky Island, in house number 48. You can get to the museum by metro. The nearest station is Vasileostrovskaya. After exiting the subway, you must walk about five hundred meters.
