What to watch in amber. The former palmniken, which has become amber. Amber plant Kaliningrad region

On Friday, August 01, before lunch, we left the hotel "Tourist" in Kaliningrad on a sightseeing bus. We waited a bit on the sofas in the hall, leafing through advertising magazines. The weather was cloudy, the clouds swirled in the sky:

A typical road to Kaliningrad region- in Prussia, so to speak, it looks like this:

Two-track with trees on the sides, which are closed over the asphalt with a tent and a field around.
Along the way, on wooden electric poles, there were nests of storks.
The photo below is a real pair of storks, not a cardboard-plastic dummy:

An hour or so later, we arrived at Yantarny. Auntie at the barrier opened the passage with a habitual movement. But it is now - so, and a few years ago everything was different - almost the children were searched from the inside by dogs.
We first came to see observation deck at the quarry. Nearby, a wooden pyramid sprinkled with amber crumbs. You can come in and make a wish.

Due to frequent use, in my opinion, the "executor" fails:

And here is the panorama of the amber quarry itself:

Without binoculars, the movement in the quarry cannot be seen, and there was not much of it on Friday. Nearby there is a "children's" sandbox, in which a mining bucket is placed in the corner. Inside there are scoops and, most importantly, real amber. An hour on the spot was spent something like this: 10 minutes of excursion and 45 minutes of searching for amber.

In this photo, red ellipses show amber pebbles. Here are 6 of them:

Everyone who was at the quarry was awarded certificates of "honorary amber miner", and then we went to, in fact, the city itself. In German "Palmniken", it was formed by amber miners, and "untwisted" thanks to the amber mines. The local merchant Becker dominated there. Maurice Becker and his large Evangelical Church:

Tourist map of the city of Amber on the stand and photos below:

Various interesting installations have been installed on the "central" trading area of ​​Yantarny. Fur-lined bike:

A shop with a black sun flag and a painted clock "City of Masters":

Glass gazebo in the courtyard of an elite hotel, behind a fence:

Like elephant legs, beeches stand nearby in the park:

And we observe the wedding ceremony and go to the sea along the stairs. Bathe.

Here it is, a wooden ladder, but here it is - the sea! It is a pity that the cat cried in the changing cabins, but this time the water was warmer than in Svetlogorsk.

Back to trading area. Wooden train as a stand for flowers:

More flowers in a pot:

We went on foot in the direction of travel, then crossed the road and went to the new building-castle. It was not allowed to shoot inside (and, in general, there was just a large store selling amber trinkets and Art Gallery on the 1st floor), went outside. Nearby stands an abandoned stable with a slate roof broken in several places:

We got on the bus and drove a few more kilometers. There is no Jewish conspiracy, but we were told a terrible story from the time of the 2nd World War, how the Germans drove a couple of thousand Jews to the beach, and then instead of bathing they took them and shot them. The local Izya put three hands reaching out to God on the shore - but, apparently, the signal from here took a long time to reach the addressee, so what happened happened. There was nothing else to see here, the mines were never shown to us ...

Fearfully approaching the edge of the cliff, reinforced with concrete, I looked down and thought - why include this in the excursion program?

We got on the bus and drove back to Kaliningrad.
There we were dropped off at the mall, we stocked up on dinner and went to the hotel...

Hello friends. In the west of the Kaliningrad region is the village of Yantarny. A landmark of world scale - here are the largest deposits of amber and the world's only museum of this ornamental stone. Periodically, "amber storms" occur on the coast and the sea brings tons of "honey stone" ashore. They say that at the end of the 19th century, after such a storm, near the village, so much amber washed up on the shore that the inhabitants of the area collected it for several years.

Now the village of Yantarny is a town immersed in greenery with ancient history. Here, there is an open amber quarry, where industrial extraction of amber is carried out. You should definitely visit Yantarny, especially since tourism is developing well in the town and the service is decent. And we will tell you what to see here.

You can plan half a day / day for the trip, depending on whether you want to walk around the city, walk along the famous promenade, see the Anna mine, visit the museum and dig up amber for yourself, or limit yourself to an excursion to the mine and the museum.

Promenade and Baltic Sea

IN good weather here you can stay longer. The purest air and gorgeous beach. By the way, this is the first beach in Russia, 3 hectares long, awarded the Blue Flag in 2016.

The Blue Flag is awarded to the most environmentally friendly clean beaches peace

True, you can swim here only in good weather, when there is no rain and a strong Baltic wind, catching up with a picturesque, but not conducive to swimming, wave. And good for water activities The weather doesn't happen here very often.

There are many countries with beaches where people sunbathe with pleasure, but either do not enter the water at all or dip slightly. These are the beaches of Germany, Portugal. Those planning to come to Yantarny should take into account the weather and the fact that the Baltic Sea here is cold.

A bit of history

These lands were inhabited by Slavic tribes, which are now called by one common name - the Balts. Where Kaliningrad and its region are now, the Prussians (Porus) lived. Since time immemorial, they have been collecting amber ornamental stone and making jewelry from it.

ancient prussian

In those days, the extraction of amber was manual, i.e. limited to what the sea brought.

• In the XIII century - the knights of the Teutonic Order began to seize the lands of the Balts and build their fortresses on them. They declared all the amber to be their property, and those who did not agree were held "amber courts" and hanged.
• In the XIV century, the village of Palveniken was first mentioned, which in translation from Prussian means "treeless swamp, wasteland."
• In the 16th century, a new way of extracting stone appeared - fishing. Algae were caught from the boats with nets, and large amber was selected from them.
• XVII century - the second mention of the village, now under the name of Palmeniken.
• XVIII - the first experiments in the extraction of amber by digging. These shafts along the coast were simple pits up to 20 meters deep. To prevent the sand from falling asleep, they were reinforced with boards.
• XIX - the technology of amber mining improved significantly: open pits appeared, where miners, divers worked, and the first steam engines- excavators.
• The name of the village was transformed into Palmniken.
• In 1946, the village was renamed Yantarny.

How amber is mined now, you can see for yourself by visiting observation deck amber quarry. I will tell about it a little further.

Talking about the village, it is impossible not to mention two people - Bekker and Stantien. These German entrepreneurs in the 60s of the XIX century became the owners of the land and the absolute masters of the amber trade.

The memory of one of them is preserved to this day. Amber has Becker Park and Hotel Becker.

Hotel Becker

If the park is related to the estate of this entrepreneur, then the hotel is not. It is new, built relatively recently. But Hotel Schloss- This former house Maurice Becker. Which he built on a historic site.

Once there was a hunting lodge of the Elector Georg Wilhelm, later the Prussian King Frederick I expanded it. He came here from and to hunt. And then Moritz Becker became the owner. Amber King demolished hunting lodge, and on its foundation he built his large manor house, laying out a park in front of it.

Please note that there are many types on the Internet. tourist maps where everything is confused. Probably because the error was on the map itself. There is a map with errors in the miniature (for comparison), and the map below in the article is correct.

Let's finish the story about Becker's manufactory. Apparently, the businessman's intuition did not let him down, and in 1899 he very profitably sold his possessions and business to the state.

Friends, now we are in Telegram: our channel about Europe, our channel about Asia. Welcome)

Attractions

The map is clickable, opens in a large size

This map with the correct designations of points of interest

I'll start with those for which bus tours come here.

• Museum of the Amber Combine

You can come here with a sightseeing bus, mainly from Svetlogorsk or Kaliningrad (maybe there are also from other cities).

You can come here on your own, but go to the territory of the plant only as part of organized excursion with a guide. This is an operating enterprise and the entrance to it is only through the checkpoint.

Tours run every day and every hour. The first one starts at 9:00 am and the last one starts at 4:00 pm.

The ticket can be bought at the checkpoint of the plant (checkpoint). Address st. Balebina, 1

• An adult ticket to the museum costs 180 rubles
• Children's 100 rubles

To avoid disappointment, you should know that you will not see the process of mining and processing amber. You will see documentary, unique exhibits: stones of different sizes and shades, magnificent products of amber masters.

The guide will tell you about the amber itself and how it is mined, about the Anna mine, where the tragic events of 1945 took place - the execution of 3,000 Jewish prisoners of concentration camps. There is a monument to the Holocaust in the mine. Traces of the famous "Amber Room" are also lost here.

You can learn more about amber at the Amber Museum in Kaliningrad. These two museums are unique because they are the only ones in the world dedicated exclusively to amber and amber products.

• Amber quarry and observation deck on it

The quarry is located at the entrance to Yantarny Settlement. Landmark - a monument to the Mermaid. From the monument, stomp through the mud for about 2 kilometers. Therefore, it is more convenient to get to the site by car or bicycle. But the work is worth it.

The scope of the action is huge: from a height of 60 meters, truly lunar landscapes open up, along the hills of which bugs-excavators move.

Of pleasant entertainment. On the observation deck there is a "sandbox" for adults. Everyone can feel like a prospector, digging amber pebbles out of the sand with a spatula or hands (which is more convenient). Every day, the museum workers pour a new portion of amber into it for tourists.

Whatever you dig up, you can take with you as a souvenir. You will also be given a document stating that you are a miner-prospector, in which you enter your last name.

A ticket to the observation deck costs 180 rubles. for adults, 100 rubles. for children.

• Museum complex "Amber Castle"

This is a 14th century castle. Naturally restored. Everything inside has been remodeled. The castle houses a variety of expositions - a little bit of everything. In general, the sensations are very pleasant. What's inside?

Crockery, household items, traditional Prussian costumes sewn by modern craftsmen, an amber pyramid, inside which you can sit on a chair and recharge your batteries.

Grinding machines from production, amber cosmetics.

"Red Corner", photos of famous people.

Torture room (not a single cultural European castle can do without it - the Inquisition left its ugly mark everywhere), maps and models of Balts houses and, of course, amber jewelry.

Museum opening hours: from 10:00 to 18:00. No weekends or breaks.

Ticket price 100 rubles.

• The next important attraction of the village is the promenade.

This walking path is located on the very coast and goes along coastline seas. The length of the promenade is 2 km.

For the convenience of walkers, it is raised above the ground (on piles) and from boards. Therefore, neither puddles nor sand threaten you.

Walks along the sea are especially useful for those who have respiratory diseases or asthma.

I talked about the beach at the beginning of the article. Now I want to add that both the promenade and the beach are equipped with good toilets, there are sun umbrellas and cafes (not cheap and not as many as we would like, so you can take food with you).

You can go down to the beach different places. The beach is very wide, you will not often see such beaches all over the world. The sand is yellowish, not fine. The central descent / ascent to the beach along a wooden staircase leading to the Maurice Becker Park and the Schloss Hotel.

The hotel is comfortable and beautiful. On its territory there is a swimming pool - a small glazed light building like a veranda.

Path from the sea to the hotel Schloss

• Church

The former evangelical church, the architecture of which has not been changed. Built in 1892. Now it is the temple of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God.

Take a shoulder wrap with you. Handkerchiefs are issued inside.

• Sport

In Yantarny there is a lake where divers train and dive.

You can also rent a catamaran there.

There is a bicycle rental in the village.

• Another attraction is the Water Tower.

This structure, preserved from the time of Prussia, can be seen if you move from the church towards the sea along the right road.

• Masters Square

Modern square with nice shopping arcades. Nearby there are eateries, cafes, restaurants, toilets.

I really liked the city. Quiet, pleasant, clean.

Although it can be noisy here when music festivals and holidays are held. It's worth coming here.

Where to stay

Places a lot of. Fine hotels: Schloss hotel, Hotel Becker are the most famous. There is a hotel for divers on the lake. Eat private sector. You can, as I understand it, rent an apartment or even a house and live in the air.

How to get there

From Kaliningrad. The most convenient way to get there is by bus 120 route Kaliningrad - Sinyavino (via Yantarny). It departs from the South Station. Departs every hour/30 minutes. The journey takes about an hour and a half.

The first bus leaves Kaliningrad at 6:30. Last from Yantarny at 21:05. The schedule may change for sure.

From Svetlogorsk to Yantarny by bus number 282 or 286 from the stop "Children and Youth Center" (DYuTS). Buses leave from 5:41 (No. 286). Return from Amber at 19:17 (No. 282).

Don't miss the storks! Their nests can be seen directly from the bus window to the left and right of the road, on poles. Before entering the village and in the village itself.

The village on the map

Thanks for reading our blog. We wish you memorable good travels. See you!

Yantarny from A to Z: the sea and beaches, hotels, motels, hotels and boarding houses of Yantarny, reviews. Shops and restaurants, prices in Yantarny.

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Yantarny is an urban-type settlement, the center of the Yantarny urban district in the Kaliningrad region. Until 1946, it was called Palmniken, and one of the districts of the village was a separate settlement of Kraxtepellen - both, starting from the 17th century, were famous for manual extraction of amber. Today, the only amber plant in the world is located here, which extracts and processes amber industrially.

In the 19th century the firm "Shtantin und Becker" began here the industrial extraction and processing of amber. Maurice Becker and Wilhelm Shtantien significantly influenced the fate of the village by opening the Anna and Henrietta mines. They not only made Palmniken industrial center, but also gave impetus to tourism development terrain. For the needs of industry and tourism back in the 19th century. was laid here Railway from Fishhausen.

Starting from 2009, as part of the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the creation of the Amber Room, the semi-final of the world championship in amber fishing is held every year in Yantarny. The winners go to the final, which takes place on the Polish part of the Baltic Spit.

How to get to Yantarny

Amber bound bus service with Kaliningrad. Route No. 120 runs between cities, covering 50 km in 1.5 hours. By car, the road will take half an hour less. If you don’t have your own car, but you don’t want to take the bus, you can take a taxi.

Read more about how to get to Yantarny on this page.

Search for flights to the city of Kaliningrad (nearest airport to Yantarny)

Beach

Amber is famous for the widest sandy sea ​​beach. It is not uncommon to find pieces of amber on this beach or in its vicinity - this is a common thing here. All visitors to the village can take finds as a keepsake of their vacation in Yantarny.

Hotels

Today Yantarny is a small but beautiful, interesting and hospitable village. Lovers of a relaxed holiday enjoy a clean wide beach and swimming in the waters Baltic Sea, and those who like to spend their holidays actively go in for beach football, volleyball, paintball and even windsurfing. At the same time, Yantarny provides an opportunity to take a break from the hustle and bustle and enjoy nature. You can stay in a small house on the coast or in a hotel in a quiet corner of the resort.

Entertainment and attractions of Yantarny

Yantarny - the village is still small, but is actively developing in the field of tourism. In the near future, it is planned to build several parks for guests - including theme parks, an aqua park, sanatoriums, spa hotels and even a golf club.

Of course, the most famous place in the village - this is an amber plant. Today it is also tourist facility: there is a separate excursion to the production, from the observation deck of the operating amber quarry you can observe the work of employees, as well as visit the most beautiful amber museum on the territory of the plant.

In the museum complex "Amber Castle" on the territory of the village itself is the Museum of Russian Superstitions. The attention of guests is attracted by numerous wooden figurines depicting the spirits of the Slavs, characters of folk beliefs and fairy tales: Babai, Zapechnik, Dvorovoy, Sandman, as well as Baba Yaga, Kikimora, Goblin. Each figure is completed interesting description so you don't have to guess who is who.

An interesting place is also a lake on the site of a former amber quarry - now it popular place for diving divers. lovers hiking waiting for a city park with many rare trees. In the common people, the park is called Bekkerovsky in honor of one of the owners of the amber manufactory and the founder of the park. Rare tree species such as the tulip tree and the red beech grow here. In addition, in Yantarny, a church built in the 19th century has been preserved. Maurice Becker, the former evangelical church is now the temple of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God.

• Where to stay: in the calm and cozy Yantarny, in Zelenogradsk, which is famous for its wide beaches, or in the popular and cheerful Svetlogorsk, where there are a lot of boarding houses and hotels. In addition, miniature villages on the territory are waiting for their guests. national park -

Amber, (former Palmniken, German. palmnicken) is a small cozy urban-type settlement in the north-west of the Kaliningrad region. The settlement on the coast of the Baltic Sea, although many call it nothing more than a city, is known throughout the world for its deposit and industrial production of the sun stone - amber.

Amber today is one of the most comfortable and beautiful settlements areas. Clean green streets, cozy houses, respectable hotels, wide sand beach, a cool vintage park and, of course, amber!

Among the main attractions of Yantarny, one can single out the only amber plant in the world that extracts and processes amber. The plant has unique museum, which I will talk about in more detail in the future. Excursions are also conducted directly to the quarry where the stone is mined.

Still available in Yantarny picturesque lake, beautiful water tower, museum complex"Amber Castle" and the sad ruins of the Anna mine (1873), near which on January 31, 1945, on the shores of the Baltic Sea, about 3 thousand people were shot - prisoners of concentration camps in East Prussia. Not so long ago, a monument was erected here, in memory of this event.

Today I will show you only a small piece of Amber... I will tell you about the ancient temple in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, and then we will go through the park and go down to the beach to the sea.

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The Evangelical Church was founded on September 8, 1887 (consecrated on January 3, 1892), at the expense of the Shtantien and Becker company, owned by entrepreneurs Maurice Becker and Wilhelm Shtantien, the owners of the Palmniken estate, as well as mines and an amber mine. During the construction of the church, which is a small copy of the St. George's Chapel in the garden of the royal castle of Montbignon on the outskirts of Berlin, large boulders and shaped bricks were used. The architect was V.L. Bessel-Lorca.

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The church had a traditional organ, colorful stained-glass windows and two inscribed bells from Shtantien and Becker. The interior decoration was made in the Romanesque style.

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During the war, the church survived and turned, first, into a Soviet club and a gym, and then into a warehouse, gradually falling into decay ...

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Attention to the church was paid only in 1990 and transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. And already on January 13, 1991, the temple in the name of the Kazan Icon Mother of God consecrated by Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad.

Today, the church does not have colorful stained-glass windows, but, in general, historical appearance very well preserved.

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On the facade there are signs in Russian and German that differ greatly in content. If the German plate shows the real historical dates construction and consecration of the church, then only 1991 is indicated in Russian ...

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According to Matushka Olga, the wife of the rector of the church, Father Viktor Kurkin, all the interior decoration of the church was purchased at the expense of the parishioners.

By Decree of the Government of the Kaliningrad Region dated March 23, 2007 No. 132, the church received the status of an object cultural heritage regional significance.

08. The church house near the temple has a German foundation.

09. The village has a well-developed information and tourist infrastructure. There are signs, maps, etc. helpful information for tourists.

10. Square of masters, souvenir and amber shops.

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12. Across the road from the temple is a respectable "Schloss-hotel", consisting of two buildings. The hotel building has been restored from old pre-war photographs with great accuracy.

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14. From the hotel, through the old Becker Park, a well-groomed path goes to the sea

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16. You can go down to the beach by a wide wooden staircase

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21. The beach in Yantarny is one of the widest and cleanest on the coast of the Kaliningrad region

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24. Depending on the weather, the Baltic Sea can change light from dark blue to greenish and even lead gray

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IN Lately Amber is increasingly becoming the center of all kinds of major festivals, exhibitions and other cultural events. Among the most famous festivals is, of course, the annual international festival spiritual, moral and national patriotic song "Peter and Paul Meetings in Yantarny" (this year it was held for the 9th time), as well as the international music Festival electronic music "Amber Beach".

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On August 24, the after-party of the short film festival "KOROCHE" was held here, which was attended by many eminent Russian actors and producers. I posted a photo report from this event a little earlier.

Sports were not left out. Every summer, qualifying rounds for the Russian Championship and international tournaments in beach football, beach volleyball, rugby, swimming competitions - "Amber Mile" and others are held in Yantarny.

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Hi all! Today I will tell you about one of the most important sights of Kaliningrad and the region. This is amber - an ornamental stone, which is a petrified resin of ancient coniferous trees. It so happened that about 90% of this golden stone is concentrated in our region and there is the only amber processing plant not only in Russia, but also in the world.

Excursion to Yantarny

I recently learned that the Amber Combine, located, by the way, in the village of Yantarny, conducts excursions for everyone, and last weekend I went there with my friends to tell you how it is and what.

So, here you can get on 2 excursions. The first is carried out in an organized manner on the territory of the plant at the address. Balebina, d. 1. Tours are held every hour (at 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 13:00, 14:00, 15:00, 16:00) every day. Ticket price - 150 rubles. To get on the tour, you need to go to the entrance of the plant, report that you are tourists, and follow the guard, who will lead you to a special room, where they lead the tour.

To be honest, I was a little disappointed. I thought that they would show us how amber is mined, how it is processed, maybe they would give us a glimpse into some shop. But no. We were simply told about production, explored deposits, the history of the plant, and so on, but they were not shown. In this excursion room, you can watch a film about amber mining, look at amber of different colors, take pictures on an amber throne under an amber chandelier and look at numerous amber creations of Soviet and Russian masters. However, if you know absolutely nothing about amber, I would advise you to look here.

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The second excursion is an independent visit to the quarry where amber is mined. It is located at the other end of the village, to the right of the mermaid, which marks the entrance to Yantarny. It seems to me that it is better to go there by car or at least by bicycle, otherwise you will have to walk for quite a long time.

Tickets are sold at the checkpoint and cost 180 rubles. Together with the ticket, each visitor is given a diploma of an amber prospector, in which all that remains is to enter his name.

On the observation deck of the quarry, you can actually look at the quarry itself, what is happening in it, what is the general scale of what is happening.

In addition, there is the Amber Pyramid, a gallows for amber stealers and a sandbox, in which the kind workers of the plant generously poured small amber - spades are freely available for everyone who wants to find their own pebble. Here we liked much more.

After seeing the quarry and going on a tour, do not rush to leave Yantarny. After all, here is one of the best beaches in the region - wide, spacious, there is enough space for everyone. And along the sea there is a wonderful wooden promenade, its length is almost 2 kilometers and it is very cool to walk along it.

The only point is that Yantarny is not very good with catering, so I recommend that you take food with you or go to a local supermarket and then have a picnic right on the beach, because you will be here in August, when hot weather is most likely, and after the conference you will have two days off that can be spent in the Kaliningrad region.

Book a hotel in Kaliningrad: http://1kaliningrad.ru/

Amber Museum

If you want to learn more about amber, go to the Kaliningrad Amber Museum. Where it is located, you already know. Directly opposite Vasilevsky Square stands the Don Tower, in which the museum is located. A ticket there costs 200 rubles, in addition to it, you can order an excursion. The website of the museum says that every Saturday and Sunday at 12:00 and at 16:00 preferential excursion sessions are held. By the way, like the plant, it is - the only amber museum in Russia.

At the main exhibition of the museum you can see amber of different colors and sizes, look at jewelry and household items made of solar stone from the Neolithic era to the present day, learn about the work of the Königsberg Amber Manufactory and the Kaliningrad Amber Combine, look at the work of amber masters from different times.

Where to buy amber

After all that I have told, a logical question arises: “Where to buy souvenirs and amber jewelry?”. Actually everywhere.

As I said, amber in Kaliningrad is sold literally on every corner. Tents, shops, departments in shopping malls- There is a lot of amber here. But, unfortunately, stylish and beautiful things are not sold everywhere. Rather, frank kitsch is most often sold: figurines pasted over with fragments of amber, roughly processed jewelry made of melted amber, icons and souvenirs with amber.

Personally, I like what the creative project "Prussian honey" does (don't take it for advertising). Their works can be bought in the basement of the Amber Museum and in their own shop on Leninsky Prospekt 17a-23a. I like that they don't make granny-style beads, but create ethnic-style jewelry.

And last year I learned about the creative association Russian Amber, as far as I understand, it is based in Moscow and was created with the aim of popularizing amber, which, frankly, in last years was undeservedly forgotten. The works of these designers are not sold in our city, but I could not help but tell about them.

Until next week!