There are many museums around the world dedicated to pets. There are museums of dogs, horses, and even a mouse museum. It is therefore not surprising that cats have also had museums opened in their honor around the world.
The cat has lived with humans for thousands of years, yet it has been able to retain many of its natural, pristine traits, including its independent disposition and passion for hunting. Fans of this amazing animal all over the world not only dedicated creative works to it, but also created museums in its honor.
There are cat museums in countries such as Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, Denmark, Canada, China, Cuba, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, USA, Russia, France, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Japan, Lithuania, as well as Malaysia and Singapore.
It is believed that the world's first cat museum appeared in Basel, Switzerland. Its perimeter is surrounded by a fence made of one and a half meter cat figures made of marble, metal, glass and porcelain. Inside there are more than ten thousand exhibits depicting a cat. These include paintings, posters and even stamps, as well as Easter eggs.
Photo: tripadvisor.ru
In the Japanese city of Okayama there is a museum of Maneki Neko - “alluring cat” or “luck cat”. Maneki Neko is a familiar figurine in the form of a cat made of porcelain or ceramics, invitingly waving its paw on a hinge. The museum has a huge collection of such figurines. The Maneki Neko figurine is believed to bring good luck and prosperity.
The British are widely known for their love of small, whiskered predators. It is not surprising that in the UK there are two museums created in their honor: The Ramsbottom Cat Museum or Kipper's Cats and The Cat Museum on Harrow on the Hill. The cats of the British Museum are officially on staff and are on government pay, and their main duty is to catch mice that spoil the exhibits. In addition, the British register cats as staff in food warehouses.
A famous cat lover was the American writer, Ernest Hemingway. In his house-museum in Key West, Florida, there is a kind of living museum of cats - descendants of the animals that the writer kept. A feature of these cats is polydactyly - the presence of six toes on the front paws; this trait is inherited from them. During Hemingway's lifetime, 57 cats lived on his estate.
Photo: readrate.com
One of the most famous cat museums in Russia is located in the city of Vsevolozhsk near St. Petersburg. Moreover, this museum has addresses in Vsevolozhsk itself and in St. Petersburg. In Vsevolozhsk there is a collection of exhibits in the form of all kinds of images of cats and historical documents about them: photographs, installations, souvenirs, as well as information about the biology and anatomy of cats, the basics of veterinary medicine, collections of fables, fairy tales and riddles about cats from all over the world. In the St. Petersburg branch there are living “exhibits”. You can chat with museum cats and buy souvenirs. Some museum residents even have their own pages on social networks.
There is also a cat museum in Moscow. It has exhibitions on the topics “Cat Magic”, “Cats and Women”, “Cat’s Eye”, “Portraits”. The main “exhibit”, who is also the unofficial caretaker of the museum, is a Siberian cat who greets each visitor at the entrance and rubs his feet in greeting.
Photo: ru.freepik.com
The Cat Museum in Berlin was founded by a great lover of these animals, Helmut Glanz. Since childhood, he collected any objects with a “cat” theme. After his collection could no longer fit at home, he and his wife decided to organize a museum. In his museum there are a lot of porcelain figurines of cats, plates with their images, wristwatches with cats, there are even ostrich eggs painted to look like kittens.
Cat museums are always full of visitors, especially those where, in addition to regular exhibits, there are also live ones. Those who consider a cat not just an animal or a walking element of home comfort, but a personality with its own character and principles, are always happy to talk to them.
Resources: kaverin.ru
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