Toilet History Museum

The Toilet History Museum is a private museum in Kyiv, Ukraine that contains the largest collection of toilet-related souvenirs and items in the world, including historic chamber pots, squatting pans, and urinals. The museum was founded in 2006 by a Ukrainian couple who worked in the plumbing business and is currently housed in a building within the Kyiv Fortress. In 2016, the Guinness Book of Records recognized it as "the largest collection of souvenir toilet bowls in the world".[1]

Toilet History Museum
київського Музею історії туалету
official logo of the Toilet History Museum
some of the Museum's collection, 2019
Established2006
LocationRybalska str. 22 Tower №5 Kyiv, Ukraine
TypeHistory museum
OwnerNikolay and Marina Bogdanenko
Websitenmiu.com.ua

Background

The museum was created by Nikolay and Marina Bogdanenko, a Ukrainian couple who had previously worked in the plumbing supply business and wanted to teach people about the enduring importance of hygiene.[2][3] It opened in 2006 with items that the Bogdanenkos had collected from around the world, many while on vacation. In 2013 Bogdanenko published a 521-page book on the history of hygiene and toiletry, World History (of Toilets). Today, the museum draws an estimated 1,000 visitors per month and is housed in the Kyiv Fortress, a building which dates to the 19th Century.[4]

Organization

The museum covers the toilet from prehistoric times to the present day and related topics, including the dressing room and clothes worn to clean toilets.[5] Exhibits are arranged sequentially, dividing history into Primitive Society, Antiquity, Middle Ages, Renaissance, XVII-XX century, Modernity, and Art Water Closets. The museum has replicas of some of the first toilet seats and explains the invention of toilet paper more than 2,000 years ago in China.[6] A display shows visitors waste disposal methods from medieval castles and why medieval toilets were called wardrobes.[4] The flushing toilet, first sketched by Leonardo da Vinci, is brought to life in a wood model.[4][7] A separate room contains a movie theater that shows videos about toilets in alternating languages.[2][8] There are more than 580 items in the permanent collection, which earned it recognition in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2016.[1]

References
  1. "The Kyiv Museum of Toilet History has entered the Guinness Book of Records]". ZIK. Lviv. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  2. Nikoloz Bezhanishvili (21 September 2015). "Museum of the toilet received a certificate of Guinness World Records". UGA. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  3. Sean Williams (21 September 2015). "HAVING A SH*T TIME IN KIEV". ozy. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  4. Nikoloz Bezhanishvili (3 July 2015). "Toilet History Museum". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  5. Nikoloz Bezhanishvili and Giorgi Lomsadze (21 September 2015). "A long history of toilets in Ukraine museum". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  6. Nikoloz Bezhanishvili (21 September 2015). "Museums in Kiev Toilet Museum". Primetour. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  7. Alina Khvorostyan. "Museum of toilet's history in Kyiv, Ukraine". AFAR. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  8. Nikoloz Bezhanishvili (3 July 2015). "Tamada Travels: Ukraine's Toilet History Museum". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 September 2018.

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