7 main Moscow buildings from the novels of Leo Tolstoy

Today is an important date for connoisseurs of Russian literature: exactly 185 years ago, the world-famous Russian writer Leo Tolstoy was born.

Throughout his life, he often visited Moscow, the prototypes of his artistic images often became people associated with the capital. Several houses in the center of today's Moscow became the scene of events in the epic "War and Peace", the novels "Resurrection" and "Anna Karenina".

Let's see how the buildings of Moscow look today, once described by the great Russian writer.

(Total 7 photos)

1. Strastnoy Boulevard, 29/15

The first point of our virtual tour of Tolstoy's Moscow will be the estate of the princes Gagarins, located at the intersection of the boulevards and Petrovka, which was rented from 1802 to 1812 by the English Club - a pastime place for the Moscow nobility. In March 1806, a solemn meeting was held there: they received the hero of Shengraben - Prince P.I. Bagration. The dinner given in his honor is described in War and Peace in some detail, although Tolstoy introduced historical details into his presentation with great care. In particular, he did not go into details of the interiors of the building, did not even indicate where it is located.

2. St. Tverskaya, 21

During a fire in 1812, Gagarin's mansions burned out - only sooty walls remained. The English club, of which, by the way, Tolstoy himself was a member, was moved to Tverskaya Street to house 21 that had survived the fire (now there is the Museum of Modern History of Russia, the former Museum of the Revolution). The house of the old Count Bezukhov, described in the novel "War and Peace", resembles the English Club, located on Tverskaya. It is possible that Count Alexei Kirillovich Razumovsky served Tolstoy as the prototype of the old Count Bezukhov, and his son, Count Vasily Alekseevich Perovsky, served as the prototype of Pierre Bezukhov.

3. St. Vozdvizhenka, 9

This summer, on one of the central streets of the capital - Vozdvizhenka, there was a serious confrontation: the authorities tried to demolish the Bolkonsky House, which had previously been deprived of the status of a monument, and the volunteers of the Archnadzor tried to protect the building in every possible way, up to shift duty on its roof. The fact is that in addition to beautiful architecture, this house is also valuable from the point of view of Russian literature. The house survived the fire of 1812, and in 1816 it was sold to Leo Tolstoy's grandfather, Prince Nikolai Sergeevich Volkonsky, who became the prototype of the old Prince Bolkonsky. In the “old, gloomy house on Vozdvizhenka”, Natasha Rostova introduces herself to the prince, here the party of Princess Maria Bolkonskaya and Count Nikolai Rostov is created, their images are associated with the parents of Leo Tolstoy. In the same house, at a ball, the writer met Princess Praskovya Shcherbatova, who became the prototype for Kitty Shcherbatskaya from Anna Karenina.

4. St. Vozdvizhenka, 16

The house of Arseniy Morozov is located very close by. The building looks like a fairy-tale palace entwined with stone grapes, and it is mentioned in the novel "Resurrection": Prince Nekhlyudov, driving along Volkhonka, thinks about building "a stupid unnecessary palace for some stupid and unnecessary person."

5. Lane Sivtsev Vrazhek, 34

What happened in this mansion on March 25, 1851, you can find out by reading the "History of Yesterday", written by 22-year-old Leo Tolstoy. In December 1850, the writer rented an apartment in this house. Further, this place is mentioned in "War and Peace": the impoverished Nikolai Rostov lives here after returning from the war. The building was rebuilt several times, but retained its original appearance. The general view is spoiled only by air conditioners and grilles on the windows that are familiar to the Muscovite eye ...

6. Plotnikov lane, 4/5

Not far from the mansion on Vrazhek is an apartment building with original bas-reliefs depicting slightly frivolous scenes. To our great regret and misunderstanding, the sculptures of this house, built in 1907, are in a dilapidated state. Is it possible that the authorities of our capital do not have the opportunity to put in order the few remaining architectural monuments?

On the unique sculptures of the building you can see the great writers we are so proud of: N.V. Gogol, A.S. Pushkin and L.N. Tolstoy himself. Biographers of Tolstoy believe that this is the first image of the writer after excommunication. And it is quite possible that walking in the vicinity of the Arbat, Tolstoy could see him.

7. St. Old Arbat, 36

Directly on the Old Arbat there is another "literary" house: after the fire of 1812, a two-story mansion with a mezzanine was built, known as a book publishing center. Here was the Posrednik publishing house founded by Leo Tolstoy, for which he personally compiled lists of works. Well, now, as you can see, they drink Czech beer here.