Sightseeing

FYODOR DOSTOYEVSKY LITERARY AND MEMORIAL MUSEUM Not far from the Vladimirsky prospect, which used to be the part of Litejny prospect up to 1806 and was renamed after St.Vladimir’s Cathedral with its splendid four-tier bell-tower, there is a house on the corner of Kuznechny Lane and Yamskaya (now Dostoevskaya) Street, where the renowned Russian write spent his last years. Dostoevsky changed twelve addresses in St.Petersburg, and always chose houses for panoramas opening out of the windows – this apartment, which the writer rented from 1878 until his death in 1881, was not an exception. The memorial flat, restored to its original state with the help of archive materials, photographs and memoirs by the writer's contemporaries, was turned into a museum in 1971. The displayincludes editions of Dostoyevsky's books published during his lifetime, a collection of illustrations for them, books and photographs signed by the writer and his famous contemporaries, manuscripts and portraits. Although worth visiting, the museum however does not tell much about the writer’s soul and intentions. Undoubtedly, the memorial rooms (the entrance-hall, drawing-room, study, dining-room and the room of the writer's wife Anna Grigoryevna Snitkina) contain displays of Dostoyevsky's personal belongings and furnishings, but to comprehend the writer’s world it’s not enough to have a look at some pieces of Dostoevsky memorabilia. His memorial flat gives only a hint about the life of a great writer, and to get a proper idea of Dostoevsky's world, one should read his books dedicated to the “poor people”, “the humiliated and the insulted”, and “the possessed”, and Petersburg itself. Unlike Pushkin, Dostoevsky never admired giant edifices and the harmonious look of the city. He was the first to portray “the other” Petersburg - a city of disaster and crime, without roots and filled wit miasma of social and mental disease. Open daily 11.00 - 17.30, closed on Monday and on the last Wednesday of every month. Address: Kuznechny pereulok, 5/2 Phone: 717-40-31. Metro: Vladimirskaya, Dostoevskaya

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