Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Patriarch's Ponds harks back to Soviet days, when the parks were populated with children
and
babushky
(grandmothers). You'll see grandmothers pushing strollers and lovers kissing
on park benches. In summer children romp on the swings, while winter sees them ice skat-
ing on the pond. The small park has a huge statue of 19th-century Russian writer Ivan
Krylov, known to Russian children for his didactic tales.
Patriarch's Ponds were immortalised by writer Mikhail Bulgakov, who had the devil ap-
pear here in
The Master and Margarita.
The initial paragraph of the novel describes the area
to the north of the pond, where the devil enters the scene and predicts the rapid death of Ber-
lioz. Contrary to Bulgakov's tale, a tram line never ran along the pond. Bulgakov's flat,
where he wrote the novel and lived up until his death, is around the corner on the Garden
Ring.
MUSEUM
BULGAKOV HOUSE-MUSEUM
1-11pm,
to 1am Fri & Sat; Mayakovskaya)
Author of
The Master and Margarita
and
Heart of a Dog,
Mikhail Bulgakov was a Soviet-
era novelist who was labelled a counter-revolutionary and was censored throughout his life.
His most celebrated novels were published posthumously, earning him a sort of cult follow-
ing in the late Soviet period. Bulgakov lived with his wife Yelena Shilovskaya (the inspira-
tion for Margarita) in a flat in this block, which now houses a small museum and theater.
Back in the 1990s the empty flat was a hang-out for dissidents and hooligans, who
painted graffiti and wrote poetry on the walls. Nowadays, the walls have been whitewashed
and the doors locked, but there is a small museum and cafe on the ground floor. The exhibit
features some of his personal items, as well as posters and illustrations of his works. More
interesting are the readings and concerts that are held here (check the website), as well as
the offbeat tours on offer. A black cat hangs out in the courtyard.
NOTABLE BUILDING
CENTRAL HOUSE OF WRITERS (CDL)
The Central House of Writers is an elaborate art-nouveau mansion dating to 1889. The his-
toric mansion housed the administrative offices of the writers' union for most of the Soviet
period. As such, it was featured in Bulgakov's novel
The Master and Margarita
.
MUSEUM
CHEKHOV HOUSE-MUSEUM
