In the Great Hall of the Russian Headquarters Geographical Society The exhibition “Smuggling. Three centuries under water."
One of the maritime secrets has become less. Specialists from the Center for Underwater Research of the Russian Geographical Society discovered at the bottom of the Gulf of Finland a German ship from the late 17th century, the Archangel Raphael, which sank in 1724 with a cargo of contraband on board. The fascinating story of this discovery will appear before visitors to the exhibition “Smuggling. Three centuries under water."
At the exhibition you will be able to see unique artifacts raised from the bottom of the sea and given a second life thanks to the skill of restorers.
Contraband cargo, dishes, tools, personal belongings and even crew food - all these witnesses to the true life of the ship will tell about the tastes of their owners and their contemporaries, about navigation and the laws of maritime trade, full of secrets and intrigues.
Visitors to the exhibition will not only get acquainted with the way of life on a European ship from the time of Peter the Great, but will also be able, with the help of audiovisual accompaniment of the exhibition, to dive to the bottom of the sea and plunge into the world of the fascinating profession of an underwater archaeologist. The original modern design of the exhibition space will help preserve in memory the image of “Archangel Raphael” and finds raised from the depths of the sea.
Free admission.
Operating mode:
- from 11:00 to 18:30.
The exhibition is closed during Lecture Hall events.
October 13 - IA "News» . Excavations of the German merchant ship Archangel Raphael, which sank in the Baltic at the beginning of the 18th century, began in 2014. Over three seasons, a team of research divers managed to erode more than eight meters of the interior space of the ship’s hull. A total of 267 artifacts were found, some of which are presented at the exhibition. Tools, weapon boxes, wardrobe items, dishes and other things that belonged to the crew of the sunken ship were recovered from the bottom of the Gulf of Finland, and then underwent the necessary conservation and restoration processes.
Professionals note that conservation periods can reach up to six months and largely depend on the size and material from which the found item is made. It is especially difficult to preserve tissue, but this task was overcome. For example, among the unique artifacts are the caftan and pants of a ship passenger. And they were saved from destruction by the tar that spilled during the crash. In a barrel with this “natural preservative”, the caftan went for restoration to specialists from the State Hermitage and was completely restored, including all 90 decorative buttons. Special attention Among the exhibits at the exhibition at the headquarters of the Russian Geographical Society, a unique hat and shoe, which were also brought to perfect condition by the restorers, are also worthy.
“Underwater archeology is not only an adventure, but also a science and quite painstaking work,” Roman Prokhorov, an archaeologist, restorer, and research diver at the Central Research Institute of the Russian Geographical Society, rightly noted on this occasion. — We have been “digging” this ship for four years. We work 6-7 hours every day under cold water without interruption. We use special equipment, which requires a person to have many skills and specialties. And I want to emphasize that this is the work of a whole team: you need to organize the whole process, work under water, process the objects, then take them to the museum, where they will also be finalized and exhibited. Among other things, restorers help us a lot top class: Hermitage and All-Russian Art Scientific and Restoration Center named after I.E. Grabar.
It is known about the history of “Archangel Raphael” that he left St. Petersburg for Lubeck in October 1724, having paid a duty for a small amount of goods. However, behind the line customs border the ship stopped and then stood at anchor west of Kotlin Island for more than a month, taking smuggled cargo from boats. According to the historian, scientific consultant of the Center for Underwater Research of the Russian Geographical Society Andrei Lukoshkov, the ship left with about 120 bales of leather on board, and the peasants who dived from the ice after its sinking had already pulled out 350 bales, and moreover, it was said that this was only a small fraction cargo In November, the onset of frosts bound the ship with ice, as a result of which it was abandoned by the crew. According to researchers, it was the ship of the Dutch merchant Herman Meyer, which died at the end of November, having a much larger cargo on board. Although Russian authorities opened a special investigation into the crash, the investigation was not completed - probably due to the death of Emperor Peter the Great in January 1725.
Almost three centuries later, specialists from the Center for Underwater Research were interested in several cases found in the Russian state archive Navy. According to them, it turned out that in the times of Peter the Great, a ship with the name either “Archangel Gabriel” or “Archangel Raphael” was crushed by ice in the Baltic waters. Thanks to the materials, it was possible to establish the supposed area of death and find the remains of a wooden ship. There were no external signs by which to identify the found vessel. Therefore, radiocarbon dating of the wood was carried out, showing the estimated time of felling of the ship. Taking into account the time it takes to dry the wood, this could well be the “Archangel Raphael”, famous in the German archives, built in Lübeck in 1693. The second confirmation was the discovery on the ship of a dish with the image of the biblical Archangel Raphael and the numbers “1696”.
“What we are now opening here is a certain quintessence of our work,” he emphasized at the opening of the exhibition executive director TsPI RGS Sergey Fokin. — Any of our activities is aimed at increasing cumulative knowledge, which without a specific addressee has no makes a lot of sense. And today we want to bring some of the very specific knowledge of history, of underwater archeology, which is still a young science and is in its formation stage. However, she is given close attention, it is not without reason that within the framework of the upcoming International Cultural Forum within the walls of the Russian Geographical Society there will be a separate section on the conservation of underwater cultural heritage, and this exhibition is an integral part of it. The fruits of three seasons of expeditions are presented here; work is still ongoing and does not stop. Unfortunately, we cannot show all the exhibits, but only those that have undergone the full process of conservation and restoration,” Fokin noted.
Exhibition “Smuggling. Three centuries under water" will last at the headquarters of the Russian Geographical Society until January 31. After this, all exhibits will be transferred to the Kronstadt History Museum.
A secret revealed
Part of the smuggled cargo, dishes, clothing and personal belongings of the crew, working and measuring instruments - all these items were displayed at the exhibition “Smuggling. Three centuries under water”, held yesterday in St. Petersburg in big hall Headquarters of the Russian Geographical Society. After three hundred years of silence, they tell their leisurely story about life on the ship and about their owners and contemporaries.
The Baltic Sea kept this secret for three centuries, and finally allowed underwater archaeologists to look into the past. Specialists from the Underwater Research Center of the Russian Geographical Society discovered the ship at the bottom of the Gulf of Finland back in 2002. It all started with a found brick. From the mark on it, it became clear: the found ship was built at a German factory in Lübeck at the end of the 17th century. It turned out that this was the sensational “Archangel Raphael” in the times of Peter the Great.
“The ship left St. Petersburg in October, and in early December it was found chained and crushed in the ice of the Gulf of Finland. Soon after the discovery, there were suggestions that he was involved in smuggling, says the director of scientific work national center underwater research of the Russian Geographical Society Andrey Lukoshkov.
Thanks to the criminals
As it later turned out, this was so. Having gone beyond the customs border, the enterprising captain Jan Schmidt anchored. For 40 days, the ship's holds were filled with contraband goods, which were brought in by boat.
But Russian nature prevented the team from realizing their plans. Ice formed in the bay, first captivating the ship and then crushing its sides. Fleeing as best they could, the crew members abandoned not only their goods, but also their personal belongings.
The smuggling department and Peter the Great personally took up the investigation of this story. Only him unexpected death suspended the investigation. And only after almost three centuries the secret became clear. Today, leaving aside the assessment of the moral character of smugglers of the 18th century, underwater archaeologists cannot find words to thank them.
“Of course, such a find is a great success for us, and we should be grateful to these thieves,” Andrei Lukoshkov laughs.
Rare luck
Thanks must also be given to the Gulf of Finland. Its muddy, slightly salted water prevented sunlight from reaching the ship and became an excellent preservative for it. In addition, there are almost no undercurrents in this part of the bay. All these factors made it possible to preserve the ship and things in almost untouched form. The exhibition includes personal items, dishes, a gun box, shoes and clothing.
– We found a mitten with two thumbs on both sides. Perhaps this was necessary to put it on in a hurry, or maybe for something else,” says diver-researcher Igor Galayda.
But the main exhibit is an expensive European caftan from the early 18th century. By a lucky coincidence, it was preserved in almost original condition. During the crash, it was filled with tar from a fallen barrel. This allowed him to lie under water for 300 years without losing a single button.
Three seasons of expeditions and more than a hundred raised artifacts are behind us. Many are still under restoration, and some have been transferred to the Hermitage for storage. But diving work on the Archangel Raphael is not yet completed. In the near future, they will be joined by specialists from Germany - for them the find is of incredible interest. This is not surprising - none of the sunken German ships is in such good condition. And in general, if you imagine how many secrets the Baltic Sea has accumulated over the entire history of navigation and take into account that only a few become obvious, you can imagine the joy of the researchers who discovered such an interesting find.
The depths of the sea hide many secrets. One of them was recently solved by specialists from the Center for Underwater Research of the Russian Geographical Society. At the bottom of the Gulf of Finland, they managed to discover and explore a German merchant ship from the late 17th century, which sank in 1724 with a large cargo of contraband on board. Visitors to the exhibition “Smuggling. Three centuries under water."
The exhibition presents unique finds raised from the bottom of the sea and given a second life thanks to the skill of restorers. Part of the smuggled cargo, dishes, clothing and personal belongings of the crew, working and measuring instruments - all these objects, after three hundred years of silence, tell their unhurried story about life on the ship, about the tastes of their owners and contemporaries. Many visitors await interesting facts and about the laws of maritime trade, which did not always correspond to state laws.
Guests of the exhibition will not only get acquainted with the way of life on a European ship of the 18th century, but will also be able, with the help of audiovisual accompaniment of the exhibition, to dive to the bottom of the sea and plunge into the world of the fascinating profession of an underwater archaeologist.
The exhibition features original and modern design. Its composition is intended to create in the visitor’s imagination the image of a found vessel and the dynamic movement of the found artifacts from the depths of the sea to the surface.
"Contraband" travels through the best exhibition spaces in St. Petersburg and beyond. She began her journey at the Headquarters of the Russian Geographical Society on October 12, 2017. The artifacts were seen by more than 4 thousand St. Petersburg residents and city guests.
In July 2018, the opening of an exhibition took place in the Silver Vaults of Oranienbaum. This is an updated, expanded collection of "Archangel Raphael" artifacts. By the way, for the first time, along with household items and tools, a caftan and woolen trousers, which are stored in State Hermitage after a complex restoration. During the 4 months of the exhibition, almost 10,000 people came to learn about amazing story, which Peter I himself was interested in. We’ll tell you where “Three Centuries Under Water” will go next in the news on our social networks and on the website.
“Smuggling” is rushing abroad too. We are negotiating with the International maritime museum in the city of Hamburg. Colleagues really want to see how the cargo of German merchants, with a 300-year lag, will still reach the shores of Germany. We are planning for 2019-2020.