Belarus is famous for its abundance of unusual museums. These are expositions in the open air, and many other locations. It is time to talk about another unique museum (similar to him, by the way, is in Grodno). So, get comfortable, today VETLIVA will tell you about the iron museum in Minsk.

The story of the emergence of an unusual museum of Minsk

Troitsky outskirts in Minsk is one of the main attractions of Minsk. Not so long ago, in 2018, another significant place appeared here - the Iron Museum. Its location is also noteworthy: the premises of the center of the Guest Card, on the 2nd floor of the house number 11 on Bogdanovich.

VETLIVA says: if you don’t know yet, a Guest Card is a very useful thing. It is a special smart card entitling to one-time visits (free or at a discount) of various museums and excursions, art galleries included in the program, as well as a zoo, water park, a viewing platform of the National Library of Belarus. Very handy thing for those who came to Minsk for a few days. 

What is the exhibition of the museum of iron in Minsk

The exhibition consists of more than 600 different irons from private collections. Its main feature is that the exhibits are distributed according to technology, that is, distributed according to the type of heating or the material from which they are made. So you will see here:

1. Solid cast irons. Cast fixtures appeared in the XVIII century and were operated even during the appearance of electricity, since sockets were not provided in many houses. They were made of cast iron, and then heated on an open fire or in a furnace. The main features of such irons:

• Weighed a lot - 10 kg and more.

• Warmed up at least half an hour.

• After warming up, taking them without tacks was simply impossible.

• For ironing small parts of clothing used special small irons, which were the size of just half of the palm.

1. Irons on coals. It is clear that when the dwellings were heated mainly by firewood, coals were used in everyday life everywhere. Therefore, in the most interesting museum of Minsk, you can see irons on coals. They consisted of a body with holes where hot coals were poured. Holes were needed to inflate the coals.

2. Irons on alcohol. Here, too, everything is clear: instead of coal, alcohol was poured and ignited in the iron. They were easier and more convenient.

3. Irons on gas. More flammable and traumatic analogues of alcohol: due to gas leakage, explosions and fires often happened.

4. Irons with a heating element. Such devices were ironed with a specially heated element that was inserted inside. Usually it had the appearance of a bar, and if ironing was planned a lot, several such inserts were heated at once.

5. Steam irons. Great-grandfathers of modern steam generators appeared at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. They worked in conjunction with a steam boiler, and on the sole were holes for steam.

6. Irons on electricity. The first patent was received in 1882. Since then, electric irons have firmly entered our lives and improved. If from the first irons of this type it was very easy to get an electric shock, then in modern devices this possibility is reduced to zero.

Where to go in Minsk tourist? To the iron museum!

There really is where to roam the visitor. You are waited by:

• interesting exposition, in which one of the heaviest irons in the world is represented - morskoy, which weighed 20 kg;

• hand-made souvenirs (by the way, the Miniature Country museum is also famous for its large selection of works by Belarusian craftsmen);

• opportunity to buy a guest card.

Going on a sightseeing tour of Minsk, be sure to take a look here!