В Музее 26 октября состоится лекция «Изумруд – царь среди бериллов».

In Kaliningrad Amber Museum on 26 October  at 11.00 takes place a lecture "Emerald - king among beryls" within lecture series "Jewellery Encyclopidia". It is conducted by the deputy director for research, art expert, candidate of pedagogical sciences Irina Toropova.

Emerald is truly royal stone. Legends were composed about it, poems and stories were written, serious scientific works were about it. In antiquity emeralds were mined in diggings near today's Aswan, know as "Cleopatra's emerald mines", they had been mined 1500 B.C. though.

Stones of incredible beauty came from the territory of today's Afghanistan as well.  The Spanish got through Atlantics to the South America and saw such big, clear emeralds that Europeans had never met before. For many years colonizers were looking for deposit of emeralds and finally found it on the territorium of today's Columbia. Giant stones: "Kokovin Emerald", found in Ural in 1874, is kept in the Mining Museum in Saint Petersburg, "Kochubei Emerald" is in the A.E.Fersman Mineralogical Museum in Moscow. "Mogul" emerald is so big that on one of its sides it was possible to engrave prayer text, on the other side - floral ornaments.

In 1994 a crystal of 3600 carat was found in Madagaskar. Image of Buddah was cut in it then. 

Emeralds decorate a lot of  jewellery kept in museums and state treasuries. Wonderful samples (some of them are rather big) decorate sceptre, orb,    headdress of the Big attire and frame of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, kept in Armoury of the Moscow Kremlin, frames of icons in the Patriarchal Vestiary of the Triniry Lavra of St. Sergius.

Programme of lecture series "Jewellery Encyclopedia"

Press Office of the Amber Museum