Museum of Millstones

Vladimir Lvovsky: Long ago, in 1979, I was a little boy and followed an archaeological expedition that was digging up historical items in a mound in the Marevsky district of the Novgorod Region. I was surprised to see the care with which the grown-ups sorted through the clay shards and firebrands. Before I met real archaeologists, I knew about them only from textbooks and knew that they worked in Greece and Egypt, where they dug up beautiful palaces and pyramids and found the gold of Troy.

“What about us?” I asked. I was told that our civilization was made of wood. All the cities that our ancestors built were just rotten.

I really wanted to know more about the history of my land and touch some historical items with my own hands.

So I thought about it.

I found items that can preserve the memory of past generations. These items turned out to be millstones and grindstones.

Millstones are items that are mentioned in the oldest book of the mankind, the Bible. Some information about millstones was also mentioned in Scandinavian folklore.

Millstones are real objects of ancient grain processing technology that transmit the warmth of the hands of our distant ancestors and are able to work even now.

Elena Mikhailova: “The collection of more than 110 millstones and grindstones, weighing from 5 to 800 kg, is available to visitors in the format of a private family suburban museum. Just 6 km from the Novgorod Kremlin, tourists can use ancient tools to grind grain and bake cakes, to grind coffee and sugar, to sharpen knives and make souvenirs and relax in full accordance with the principles of their ancestors and in complete harmony with the Fatherland, themselves, and nature.”