Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
House-Museums
St Petersburg was home to some of the greatest writers of Russian literature, including
Pushkin, Dostoevsky and Nabokov. Two days before the duel that would kill him, Alexan-
der Pushkin wrote his final poem and letter at what is now the
Pushkin House-Museum
,
at Moyki Reki nab. 12 (Wed-Mon 10.30am-6pm, closed last Fri of the month; R150;
museumpushkin.ru
;
Admiralteyskaya) - you can see the pair of duelling pistols and the
waistcoat he wore on that tragic day. Dostoevksy enthusiasts should head to the
Dosto-
evsky Memorial Museum
at Kuznechny per. 5/2 (Tues-Sun 11am-6pm; R160, student
R80;
md.spb.ru
; Vladimirskaya), where the novelist resided briefly in 1846 and then
again from 1878 until his death three years later. Here he initially worked on his first story
The Double
, and later on his last novel
The Brothers Karamazov
. The former home of the
prose master behind
Lolita
is the
Vladimir Nabokov House-Museum
at Bolshaya Mor-
skaya 47 (Tues-Fri 11am-6pm, Sat & Sun noon-5pm; free entry;
nabokovmuseum.org
;
Admiralteyskaya), where the novelist lived until 1917. You can watch a video interview
withNabokovaswellasperusecuriousmemorabilia,includingpartofthebutterflycollec-
tion that inspired many of his novels.
Smolniy Convent and Institute
A peerless ice-blue Rastrelli Baroque creation,
Smolniy Convent
at 3/1 Rastrelli Square
(Thurs-Tues 11am-7pm; R150, student R90;
cathedral.ru
;
Chernyshevskaya) is now a
concert and exhibition hall that serves as the focal point of the Smolniy district. The neigh-
bouring
Smolniy Institute
(Pl. Proletarskoy Diktatury 3) is the headquarters of St Peters-
burg's Governor, but was originally built between 1806 and 1808 to house the Institute
for Young Noblewomen; Lenin orchestrated the October Revolution of 1917 from here. A
statueofthemanhimselfstillstandsinfrontofthebuilding,andasyouentertheInstitute's
grounds look out for the now familiar Communist slogan: “Workers of the World, Unite!”
(Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь!).
Alexander Nevsky Monastery
At the eastern end of Nevsky prospekt lies the
Alexander Nevsky Monastery
(daily
5.30am-11pm; free; Ploshchad Aleksandra Nevskogo), founded in 1713 by Peter the
Great and one of only four monasteries in the Russian Empire with the rank of
lavra
, the
highest in Orthodox monasticism. Two famous
cemeteries
lie in the monastery grounds:
theNecropolisforMastersoftheArts,whereDostoevsky,Rimsky-Korsakov,Tchaikovsky
and Glinka lie, and, directly opposite, the Lazarus Cemetery, the oldest in the city with
elaborately decorated tombs. Tickets are required for entry to both (Fri-Wed: April-Oct
9.30am-6pm; Fri-Wed: Nov-March 9.30am-5.30pm; R200).
Rumyantsev Mansion
Along the Neva embankment to the west of the Admiralty, the focal point of the
Rumy-
antsev Mansion
at Angliyskaya nab. 44 (Thurs-Tues 11am-6pm, Tues until 5pm; R120,
