Moscow Attractions

Venue: Dostoyevsky House Museum    When: Daily; not Mon

Established in 1928, the Dostoyevsky House Museum is a reconstruction of the family home based on the diaries and recollections of the author's childhood. Visitors will be pleased to know that the building now has central heating, so that the cold (which led to Dostoyevsky's mother catching tuberculosis- which she subsequently died from) shouldn't bother them.

The museum provides a glimpse of 19th-century Moscow, and the lifestyle of Dostoyevsky in the place where he spent the first 16 years of his life. The ground-floor apartment was attached to the grounds of the Mariya hospital, where Dostoevsky was born in November 1821 and where his father worked as a physician. The somewhat gloomy atmosphere you may encounter (particularly if you visit on a grey Moscow afternoon) gives an indication of the financial worries with which the family had to contend.

Once inside, you'll be able to see the candle-lit bedroom that Fyodor shared with his older brother, Mikhail, the living room where he played, and various ephemera from Dostoyevsky's life including manuscripts and writing materials.