The museum, housed in a handsome blue and white edifice built between 1718 and 1734 by Georg Mattarnovi, dominates the University embankment. The collection of "monsters and rarities" (deformed foetuses, Siamese twins, giant's skeleton) that Peter the Great brought back from Holland in 1717 are as disturbing as ever to visitors, even if they no longer give you a glass of vodka to get over it the way they used to! Also on display are collections of objects the tsar brought back from various continents for similar educational purposes. Don't miss the (17C) Gottorp globe-planetarium exhibited in the Mikhail-Lomonosov Museum (2nd floor).