BLOK APARTMENT MUSEUM

57 (Apts. 21, 23) ulitsa Dekabristov 191121 St. Petersburg
Open: 1lam - 6pm, Tuesdays 11am - 5pm
Closed: Wednesdays and the last Tuesday of every month
Tel. 113-8627, 113-8633 Nearest metro station: Nevsky prospekt

The museum of the great Russian poet Alexander Blok (1880-1921) opened in 1980. It is situated in the house at the corner of the Priazhka River Embankment and what was once Offitserskaya Street. The Blok family lived in apartments 21 and 23 at different times from 1912. Here the poet wrote his famous cycles of verses, The Terrible World, Carmen, The Mother, and the poems Retribution and The Twelve. In the spring of 1917 Blok returned from the front and lived here until his death on 7 August 1921.

In apartment 21 (third floor), Blok's study, dining-room and bedroom have been restored as has the drawing-room of his wife, Lyubov Dmitriyevna Mendeleyeva-Blok. A literary display (in the apartment of Blok's mother on the first floor) traces the poet's career.

Most of the exhibits are authentic memorabilia, which were kept in the museum of the Institute of Russian Literature after the poet's death. -Manuscripts written by Blok and his contemporaries, historical photographs, first editions of the poet's books and a collection of illustrations for his poems are all on display. The exhibition' ends in the Memorial Room where Alexander Blok died. Here one can see his death mask, a notice announcing his death, and Lev Bruni's drawing of Blok on His Deathbed, made on the last sheet of the poet's pad in blue pencil.

The museum regularly hosts literary soirees, concerts and annual conferences devoted to the life and work of Alexander Blok. The museum is equipped with a lecture-hall.