There is probably no person who, having arrived in St. Petersburg, would not have visited house number 12 on the Moika. It became the last refuge of the great writer Pushkin A.S. The Pushkin Museum-Apartment is part of the All-Russian complex of museums that are dedicated to the life and work of the brilliant poet. There are several more of these apartments, each of which is the property of the Russian people. But it is the museum-apartment of A.S. Pushkin on the Moika that attracts the attention of visitors. Here he spent the last days of his life, and it was here that famous people gathered who honored the memory of a great man.
Pages of history
Museum-apartment on the Moika is a very old building. The house was erected in the Catherine era. The architect of this building was Giuseppe Trizini. Since 1727, the house belonged to Baron I. A. Cherkasov. Homeowners regularly changed, the structure itself was repeatedly rebuilt. In 1806, the Volkonsky princes settled on the Moika. Pushkin never had his own home, especially in the capital. Only very wealthy Petersburgers could afford it.
But wherever the poet rented an apartment, it always corresponded to his status as a great man. Confirmation of this is the Pushkin Museum-Apartment, a photo of which is presented below.
Life of a poet in St. Petersburg
A.S. Pushkin very much connected with St. Petersburg. He came here with his uncle when he was 12 years old. Here he lived until the end of the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. At the Moika he met his contemporaries. Museum-apartment of Pushkin on the Moika is located near the Winter Palace. This allowed Alexander Sergeyevich to appear daily in the service of camera junkers. Therefore, in September 1896, the Pushkin family rented an apartment in St. Petersburg at Moika 12. The poet planned to live here for 2-3 years. But a few months later Pushkin was wounded in a duel. In 1837, on January 29, the poet died.
Pushkin did not live long in the house on the Moika, but this place became known to all of Russia. However, this house did not immediately become a museum. It is known that in 1910 the mansion was rebuilt as a tenement house. And after the revolution there were communal apartments. Only in 1924, the Pushkin circle of the society "Old Petersburg" bought that part of the house in which Alexander Sergeyevich lived and worked. The most difficult work began on the reconstruction of the premises, the collection of things that were distributed after the death of the poet. The sources of reconstruction were different: letters of relatives and friends, memoirs of contemporaries of the poet. The letter of V. A. Zhukovsky to Pushkin’s father, which described the plan of the poet’s apartment, was of great help.
Turning an apartment into a museum
In 1925 (February 10), the poet’s office was restored, a meeting was held here, which was dedicated to the first year of the death of A.S. Pushkin. But the largest restoration work began in 1937. They were dedicated to the centenary of the death of the poet. The entire Volkonsky house was restored. In front of the house, in the courtyard, there is a beautiful monument dedicated to Pushkin. Later, the pantry and dining room, bedrooms, front staircase were restored. Everything was recreated to the smallest detail. So the museum-apartment of Pushkin on the Moika appeared.
The entire museum exposition consists of two departments. The first tells the story of the mansion and the life of Pushkin. The second is the poet’s apartment, personal items, books, portraits. A special place in the museum-apartment is occupied by the poet’s office. This is a spacious, bright room where there is no luxury. Everything is extremely simple and conducive to work. In the center of the room is an authentic desk, on which stands an ink device with an Arabian figure. This is a gift from P.V. Nashchekin. The main part of the room is occupied by books, both novelties of literature and ancient publications. Among them is Byron, whom Pushkin idolized.
Museum expositions
Of particular value in the museum's exposition is the sofa on which the poet was dying. After death, he was sent to the village of Mikhailovskoye. In 1936, with the assistance of Pushkin's relatives, the sofa was returned to the apartment at the Moika. In 2009, when comparing DNA samples from blood stains on a sofa and on a vest, the authenticity of the sofa was established, which was the death bed of A.S. Pushkin. Here are things related to his death: a lock of hair, a mask, a vest in which the poet was on the day of the duel. Where there used to be utility rooms, now there are two rooms in which paintings of the Pushkin era are presented. These are portraits of Pushkin's friends. Today, the museum’s fund contains many genuine things, including: the poet’s favorite Voltaire’s chair, canes and pipes, the famous Pushkin pen with inkwell. The museum is always crowded. The tour lasts only half an hour, but in this short time, visitors move to another time and experience the tragic minutes associated with the life and death of the great poet. In the halls of the museum are held creative evenings, literary readings dedicated to A.S. Pushkin. Young poets read poetry here, receiving parting words to the world of poetry.
