Though this renowned Russian author is more closely associated with St Petersburg, Fyodor Dostoevsky was actually born in Moscow, where his family lived in a tiny apartment on the grounds of Mariinsky Hospital. He lived here until the age of 16, when he went to St Petersburg to enter a military academy. The family’s Moscow flat has been recreated according to descriptions written by Fyodor’s brother.
Visitors can see the family’s library, toys and many other personal items, including Fyodor’s quill pen, an original autograph and a wooden chest with vaulted cover he slept on during his childhood, which clearly contributed to the writer's view of the world as a place full of pain. Shedding further light on the author's psyche, the house stood next to a morgue and an asylum that received lunatics from all over the city.