The Institute of Experimental Medicine
Pavlov and the Institute
The Institute was built in the late 1880s by royal decree, close to the centre of a bustling St Petersburg, then capital of the Tsarist Russian Empire, in its own extensive grounds. The site incorporated the buildings of the various science departments, including physiology, chemistry, zoology, bacteriology and anatomy.
Pavlov was plucked from relative obscurity to become the first Director of the Institute’s Physiology Department when it opened in 1890, a post he retained until his death in 1936. It was where he conducted most of his experiments, and where many hundreds of dogs lived, worked and died during his 50+ year career.
A hive of activity
In the grounds of the Institute of Experimental Medicine we have recreated the The Physiology Department’s main site, along with further buildings that were added as Pavlov’s enterprise grew, notably the animal house, where dozens of dogs were kept at any one time, and the The Towers of Silence, purpose built for his animal experiments.
In and around the main buildings and the grounds you can observe plenty of activity going on.
Making tracks
What were the tracks found in and around Pavlov’s Physiology Department used for?
What’s in the bottles?
Gastric juice extracted from Pavlov’s dogs is packed ready for shipping. Where’s it headed?
A shallow grave?
What happened to dogs when they were no longer considered fit to be experimented on?