The Moscow Region Highlight: A Museum of Forgotten Taste, Kolomna Pastila Museum

If you want to explore one of the provincial towns in the vicinity of Moscow, don’t miss the cozy, picturesque Kolomna, and most importantly, its major highlight – the Kolomna Pastila Museum. 

The story of this fantastic project, an innovative living museum which promotes the town’s heritage and traditions, is unusual.  It was set up as a private museum by Natalia Nikitina, a former music teacher, in 2009, reviving the long-standing tradition of Kolomna’s marshmallow-making: in the 19^thcentury this thriving merchant town was one of the leading centers of pastila (marshmallow) production. The Chuprikov merchant family established their first factory in Kolomna at the beginning of the 18^thcentury.  Pastila was a very popular product in the pre-revolutionary Russia and was even exported to Europe. The production ceased after the 1917’s revolution, and the traditional unique recipes were lost for almost a century.  The owner’s idea was to revive the original recipes of marshmallow-making  in the heart of its home town.

The recipes were restored through archive work. The Kolomna pastila is completely organic, made from fresh apples with added natural flavors (raspberries, strawberries etc), and really does melt in your mouth.  The product was promoted in regional and federal media, rapidly gaining popularity, which resulted in the opening of this one-of-a-kind living museum ‘of forgotten taste’.   The museum is an award winner of “A Changing Museum in a Changing World Program” (Vladimir Potanin Foundation), as well as a special prize holder of the European Museum Forum 2012.  

The Kolomna Pastila Museum  is a perfect example of an innovative cultural project: if offers interactive shows with pastila tasting in the19^th century reconstructed interiors of a cozy wooden house located in the heart of the Kolomna town, offers insight into the traditions of pastila-making and the 19^th century lifestyle of a merchant town. Its highlight is its gift shopwith very tastfully done souvenirs – pastila wrapped in old-style boxes which are a hit with visitors.  The museum features tours, tastings, music shows and plenty of other activities.

The Museum’s huge success inspired several more projects: The Kolomna pastila Factory (https://www.facebook.com/pastilafactory)  The Kalach (Kalach – a kind of bun) museum  (http://www.facebook.com/kolomna.kalach )

The Museum is tripadvisor recommended.

Official website: www.kolomnapastila.ru

 

Where:  Posadskaya street 13A, Kolomna, Moscow region (approx. 100 km from Moscow)

ул. Посадская, 13А, Коломна, Московская обл.