Text written by Yaroslav V. Vassilkov. Special thanks are due to Natalia T. Ashimbayeva, director of the Dostoevsky Memorial Museum, for assistance in providing photographs and other materials.

Dostoevsky Memorial Museum occupies the basement and two floors of the house in which the writer spent his last years (1878-1881). Whenever Dostoevsky rented an apartment in St Petersburg, it was located so that at lest one window should have a view of a church.

Dostoevsky’s apartment at 5 Kuznechny pereulok (lane) too has a view of the Our Lady of Vladimir Cathedral which stands on Vladimirskaya square. In the drawing by the modern artist Boris G.Kostygov its chapel at the corner of the square can be seen.

There is a food market opposite the church grounds in Kuznechny lane which leads to Dostoevsky’s house. Making your way to the museum down the busy lane jammed between the market place and the house of prayer you will rub shoulders with people who still bear likeness to Dostoevsky’s characters albeit slightly modernized. The last apartment of the writer on the first floor of the house has been reconstructed with meticulous care. Drawings and photographs made during the writer’s lifetime were used for the reconstruction. The rooms across the landing display documents and materials relating to Dostoevsky’s life and literary career. A small art gallery regularly exhibits works by modern St. Petersburg’s artists, inspired by Dostoevsky’s novels. In the basement there is a conference hall where concerts and conferences are held and where screen versions of some Dostoevsky’s novels are shown.