Do you want to get into the Middle Ages and see with your own eyes how heretics, criminals and other people who the Inquisition considered enemies of the people were punished? Then go to the museum of medieval torture. The organizers of such exhibitions thought through everything: visitors plunged into the atmosphere of that time ...
Why torture was needed
Today's people are quite difficult to realize what happened many, many years ago in Europe in the Middle Ages. And this is not so much about the frequent and cruel punishments of the guilty and innocent, but that all medieval torture was a farce, combining cruelty, bloodthirsty and fun for the public!
The torture of the Middle Ages is a necessary measure of combating crimes against faith. Initially, torture chambers were conceived as a preventive measure only for true criminals. However, soon the servants of the Inquisition went into courage and were ready to mock any person who did not please him.
This is the cruelty of torture! If you think that the needles pushed under the nails of a criminal are a hell of a pain, then you do not know anything about torture. This is babble compared to what the ministers of the Inquisition came up with in the Middle Ages.
Witch-hunt
In an era called the “witch hunt”, people lived in fear and horror. It was enough just to cough during the sermon, as the priest immediately recognized the imp demon in a person. After that, the poor fellow was waiting for a painful and long death in the form of torture, for example, on the so-called “stretching bench” (see the figure above), ending with his burning at the stake.
Medieval torture at the Prague Museum
All lovers of Gothic art and just people who want to see torture chambers from the inside, we recommend visiting the museum of torture tools in Prague. The sacred inquisition and the sophisticated punishments of that time are a recognizable and extensive historical part of European history of the Middle Ages. They are the main theme of the Prague Museum of Torture. It is located not far from Old Town Square - on Tseletna street, house 10.
The instruments of torture presented in this museum were collected at one time throughout Europe. In this museum you can not only see them, but even touch them with your hands. The Prague Museum of Torture is famous for its rather wide exposition, numbering almost 60 copies of various instruments and devices for torturing people. According to some reports, some of these guns came to us in their original form straight from the distant 1110!
How rich is the Prague Museum of Medieval Torture
This museum is divided into several rooms, representing different centuries. Accordingly, in each of them are collected exhibits of guns belonging to a particular time. Here you can see the famous chair with spikes, and the so-called Spanish boot, and the chastity belt. Also in the Prague Museum are presented chairs for witches, crushers for skulls, chairs with teeth, tongs, braziers, etc. In general, if you are in Prague, be sure to visit this museum. You will not regret it!
Museum of the History of Corporal Punishment in Moscow
His second name is the Moscow Museum of Torture on the Arbat. It should also be visited by all residents and guests of the capital. The Museum of the History of Corporal Punishment has a huge exposition: a large collection of instruments of physical influence on a medieval man, instruments for torture. All this makes us think that the era of the Middle Ages was by no means as romantic as various authors describe it in their love affairs.
Of course, exhibitions of various medieval tools and instruments for corporal punishment of people are presented in many museums in Europe, but the Museum of Torture in Moscow is unique in its own way. The organizers of this exhibition thought over all the marketing moves and decided not to create it in the style of thrash or horror shows, as it looks in other European museums, but to consider all the available attributes of torture and executions as real medieval realities, without additional dramatization.
Moscow Museum of Corporal Punishment
The Moscow Museum of Torture on the Arbat is a special atmosphere of the Middle Ages. Visit him and you will understand everything yourself! You are expected daily from 12 to 22 hours at the address: Arbat Street, 25/36. Here are collected all kinds of devices necessary for all kinds of oppression of a person and mockery of him through physical action. Here you can see the legendary "chastity belt" of that era, shackles, rears, streamers and much more.
Like the Prague Museum, the Moscow Museum of Torture has a significant portion of replicas (reconstructions) of torture tools and instruments, which in their original form have hardly been preserved anywhere. Therefore, they had to be recreated from ancient descriptions and drawings. Another plus of this museum is engravings illustrating the technique of medieval bullying of people. They are located on the walls of the museum.
Museum of Torture in St. Petersburg
This is another museum that tells us about the cruelty and ruthlessness of the servants of the Inquisition in relation to people of different origin. You can find it on the territory of the Peter and Paul Fortress. Immediately we make a reservation, the area of this museum is not as large as that of the Moscow and Prague museums, but there are practically no less exhibits in it, there is something to see. The guides of this museum will be happy to answer all your questions regarding medieval torture.
The Museum of Torture in St. Petersburg has several original reconstructions of medieval tools for bullying people. And it is impossible to keep silent about them. So, now we will briefly introduce you to the fruit of sophisticated human fantasies.
- "Horse". This instrument of torture was a large horizontal triangle, the upper edge of which was very sharp. It was on it that criminals were planted on top, tying weights to their feet. The meaning of such torture is that the victim was sitting on a rather sharp edge, which cut into the crotch and gradually cut the person from the bottom up.
- "The interrogation chair." No European torture museum can do without this famous exhibit. The victim was stripped naked and seated on a chair equipped with many iron spikes. At the slightest movement, the needles began to dig into the body. Often such torture continued for weeks, but if the victim did not give up, the executioners used the technique of red-hot tongs, but that's another story.
- "Violin of gossips." The punishment got its name because of the shape of this tool of bullying people. Wooden blocks resembled a violin. With the help of such a “violin” liars, slanderers and gossipers were punished. The victim’s hands and neck were firmly fixed in the pose of a praying person (see photo above). This provoked a complete circulatory disturbance. Such torture brought the victim very severe pains, after which it was simply unreal to survive!