Malaya Nikitskaya ulitsa 6/2
Tel. (495) 690 0535
Subway: Pushkinskaya
Open: 11am- 5:30pm Wed- Sun
Gorky House Museum is a former residence of a famous Russian Writer Maxim Gorky. The house itself is notable for its unique architecture. There are no straight lines in most of interior. All lines are elegantly broken into wavy patterns. Although the house itself was built for the millionaire S. p. Ryabushinsky designed by Fyodor Shekhtel in 1902. This is one of the most famous buildings in the art Nouveau style. After the revolution, it housed the State publishing house, the all-Union society for cultural relations with foreign countries, a Psychoanalytic Institute, and a kindergarten. For a long time it was believed that somewhere in the Gorky house-Museum hidden treasure. However, all searches did not lead to apparent success.
In 1931, Stalin presented the mansion as a gift to
the famous socialist writer Maxim Gorky. By the time Gorky moved
into the house, His career as a writer and playwright was in
decline. While living here, he wrote only one play: Yegor Bulychev
and others (1932) and part of the novel the Life of Klim Samgin
(unfinished at the time of his death). However, his fame and his
previous support for the Bolshevik party made him a useful
propaganda tool for the Soviet government. He performed this
function as President of the writers ' Union, which explains why the
rooms of the Gorky house Museum are full of photographs of the
author in the company of aspiring playwrights, pioneers, and
Communist officials.
Gorky's hat, coat, and walking stick are
preserved in the collection of the Gorky house Museum, as well as
many of his letters and books, including some first editions.
Shortly after Gorky's death in 1936, Genrikh Yagoda, the former head
of the NKVD (secret police), was charged with his murder. Although
the charge was probably fabricated, Yagoda was found guilty in one
of the last notorious show trials. Rumor has it that Gorky was
killed on Stalin's orders.
History of the Gorky House
Museum
The original art Nouveau building of the Museum, built by
the Russian architect Fyodor Shechtel in 1902, belonged to the
millionaire S. p. Ryabushinsky. Construction began when Ryabushinsky
was 26 years old. In this house, he and his family lived until the
revolution of 1917, when the whole family was persecuted and escaped
in exile. After 1917, the mansion passed into the possession of the
city and it alternately housed the State publishing house, the
all-Union society for cultural relations with foreign countries, the
Psychoanalytic Institute and a kindergarten. In 1932, Gorky finally
moved to the USSR, where he had previously spent several weeks a
year, and since then he has not been released abroad. The former
Ryabushinsky mansion was given to him and his family as a residence
by the Soviet Government, along with dachas in Gorki and Crimea. It
was here that he spent the rest of his years until his death in
1936. In 1965, the building officially acquired the status of a
Museum.
After Gorky's death, the widow of his son "timosh"
(Peshkova, Nadezhda Alekseevna) remained living in the mansion until
1965, the last 20 years of which were devoted to the creation of the
Gorky Museum, which arose almost on her enthusiasm.
Exhibition of the Gorky House Museum
The Museum has preserved a
unique rich library of Gorky. Most of the items of use have been
preserved to this day in their original form. Since the
ryabushinskys left the house when the building was owned by the
city, some pieces of furniture and lighting from that time, made
according to Schechtel's sketches, were lost, the ventilation system
was destroyed and the unique Carrara marble fireplace was
dismantled.
Nowadays, the entrance to the Museum is through
the back door. Maxim Gorky himself lived only on the first floor of
the house, on the second floor lived his family-his son Maxim
Alekseevich with his wife Nadezhda Alekseevna and granddaughters
Daria and Marfa. At nightfall, floral patterns begin to glow on the
dome in the chapel. The Museum keeps a book where the names of
absolutely all visitors are marked.
Notes
Until recently,
the entrance to the Museum was free, but in 2018 you will have to
pay 300 rubles for a ticket.